138 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE GRAY WOLF. 



The Gray Wolf.— Number of Species of Wolves.— Difference in Colors.— 

 The Size of the largest Variety.— Its Courage.— Captures of small Dogs 

 from the Indians.— A Pack kills Two of our Dogs.— Retaliation.— In- 

 dians eat the Wolf.— Sagacity of the Animal in Hunting.— How a Pack 

 drives Deer.— Stratagems resorted to.— Satellites of Herds of Buffaloes 

 and Antelopes. — What Wolves live on. — Useful Scavengers. — Their 

 harmless character to Man.— Famishing Wolves attack an Indian.— 

 Result.— Afraid of a Child.— Yelps when wounded.— Their Size and 

 Character when Food is plentiful.— How they are killed.—" Wolfers," 

 and their Mode of Work.— Their General Character.— Sudden Wealth 

 and Poverty.— A Lucky "Wolfcr."— A Hunt with a " Wolfer."— His 

 peculiar Breed of Dogs.— Their Speed and Stubbornness.— Six Cubs 

 captured, and Two Wolves killed.— Pursuit of a Coyote.— Affection of 

 a Mother for her Young.— How Wolves run when pursued.— Different 

 Breeds of Dogs fit for Wolf-hunting.— How it is hunted in Portions of 

 the West. — A spirited Wolf-chase. — How Wolves act when Trapped. — 

 The Future of Wolf-hunting in the West. 



Wolves are unusually numerous throughout the whole 

 of North-western America ; and they seem to be equally at 

 home on the prairie or in the forest, on the mountains or on 

 the treeless plateaus, where shelter is often so scarce that 

 they are compelled to form burrows for themselves under 

 banks, or content themselves with a lair amidst crags. 



There are, in reality, only two species in the country, the 

 gray, timber, or prairie wolf (Canis lupus var occidentalis), 

 and the coyote or prairie wolf (Cams latrans), but there 

 are others which are classified as varieties on account of 

 their distinctions in color. The difference in hue seems to 

 be the result of climate and habitat, yet I have seen cubs of 

 various hues in one litter. This might be the result of the 

 association of differently marked animals ; but in some in- 

 stances this could not be the case, as only one variety fre- 

 quented the country in which they were found. 



