THIETT YEARS A HUNTER. 189 



The breeding season for wolves is in May, and at 

 this season they are very shy, keeping themselves 

 scattered through the woods, near the head waters of 

 the streams, and seldom approaching the settlements. 

 An old she-wolf will occasionally sally forth and pick 

 up a sheep. They generally have three or four young 

 at a time, and never more than seven. The young 

 wolves are weaned in November, when they have 

 attained their full size. When left by the old ones to 

 shift for themselves, they become nearly famished, 

 and are more troublesome to the settlements than at 

 any other season. In February, which is the running 

 season, they collect in large gangs, and do much mis- 

 chief. They will attack a dog or any other animal 

 that they can master. In 1822, while hunting on 

 the Clarion Kiver, my dogs were attacked by wolves. 

 One of them escaped, but the other, a valuable ani- 

 mal, was torn in pieces. Frequent and sometimes 

 fatal conflicts occur among themselves, and I have 

 several times found dead ones which had been torn 

 in pieces by their comrades. One night a gang of 

 wolves passed my house, howling and screaming 

 fearfully, and chasing a dog to the very door. The 

 next morning I found one of their number lying 

 dead, and another was found a few miles distant. 

 In the latter part of May they begin to chase deer, 

 and from that time until the following March, they 

 subsist principally in this manner. In the winter, 

 when the snow is deep, with a crust upon the surface, 

 it is difficult for the deer to run, and great numbers 

 of them are destroyed by wolves. In the spring, 



