WOLVES AND WOLF-HOUNDS. 179 



CHAPTER VIII. 



WOLVES AND WOLF-HOUNDS. 



HHHE wolf is the arch type of ravin, the 

 -L beast of waste and desolation. It is still 

 found scattered thinly throughout all the 

 wilder portions of the United States, but has 

 everywhere retreated from the advance of 

 civilization. 



Wolves show an infinite variety in color, 

 size, physical formation, and temper. Al- 

 most all the varieties intergrade with one 

 another, however, so that it is very difficult to 

 draw a hard and fast line between any two of 

 them. Nevertheless, west of the Mississippi 

 there are found two distinct types. One is 

 the wolf proper, or big wolf, specifically akin to 

 the wolves of the eastern States. The other 

 is the little coyote, or prairie wolf. The 

 coyote and the big wolf are found together in 

 almost all the wilder districts from the Rio 

 Grande to the valleys of the upper Missouri 

 and the upper Columbia. Throughout this 

 region there is always a sharp line of demark- 

 ation, especially in size, between the coyottes 

 and the big wolves of any given district ; but 

 in certain districts the big wolves are very 

 much larger than their brethren in other dis- 



