THE GRAY WOLF. 143 



thrust of the horns, while the others rush in ; and by these 

 cunning assaults they frequently obtain a feast in a short 

 time. 



When the quarry is disabled, they tear it to death, as it 

 ■were. I have known them to eat a good-sized buck inside 

 of ten minutes after its capture. They are constant attend- 

 ants upon the herds of antelopes and buffaloes that exist 

 on the plains of the West, and follow the latter in their mi- 

 grations as far as the wintry regions of British America. 

 When large game becomes scarce they manage to eke out 

 an existence by preying on prairie-dogs, hares, ground- 

 squirrels, badgers, foxes, and other animals, and such ref- 

 use as they may find in deserted camps and Indian vil- 

 lages. If farm-houses are convenient, they display their 

 affection for the inmates of the farm-yard on every con- 

 venient occasion; but they are mostly attached to sheep, 

 pigs, and calves. 



Although they are the pirates of the plains, and the 

 deadly foes of all animals they think they can destroy, yet 

 they are very useful in that region, for they act as scaven- 

 gers, and clear away the putrefying carcasses of hundreds 

 of animals that die from various causes, and which but for 

 them would make the plains a bed of pestilence at certain 

 seasons. 



Little can be said against them on account of their dan- 

 ger to man, for they seldom attack him, even when they 

 are in overpowering numbers and starving; and in this 

 characteristic they present a strong and favorable contrast 

 to their European congeners. I have heard of only one 

 corroborated case in which they attacked a human being, 

 and that was under exceptional circumstances. During a 

 severe winter, when the fall of snow was very great, an In- 

 dian hunter in Northern Idaho killed a deer one day, and 

 while taking it home the smell of the blood attracted a 

 pack of famishing wolves that were hunting in the woods. 

 As soon as they overtook the man they jumped for the 

 meat at once, and he, in trying to defend it, as he wanted 

 it sadly for his own family, was attacked with the greatest 



