The Dog Family 



Pkoto ly Scholastic Photo. Co.] [Parson's Green. 



RUSSIAN WOLF. 

 Note the expression of fear and ferocity on the face of this wolf ; also the enormously powerful jaws. 



country house with a 



number of dogs. Among 



these were three terriers, 



with which it made friends. 



There were plenty of wild 



foxes near, some of which 



occasionally laid up in the 



laurels in a shrubbery not 



far from the house. These 



laurels were, in fact, a 



fairly safe find for a fox. 



It was the particular sport 



of the terriers to be taken 



to " draw " this bit of cover, 



and to chase out any fox 



in it. On these expeditions 



the tame fox invariably ac- 

 companied them, and took 



an active part in the chase, 



pursuing the wild fox as 



far as the terriers were 



able to maintain the hunt. 



In Central Asia the 



wolves lie out singly on 

 the steppes during the 



summer, and feed on the 



young antelopes and the lambs and kids of the Tartars' flocks. The Kirghiz organise wolf- 

 killing parties, to which as many mounted men and dogs come as can be brought together. 

 In order to aid the dogs, the Tartars often employ eagles trained to act like falcons, which 

 sit on the arm of the owner. As the eagle is too heavy to be carried for any time in this way, 

 a crutch is fastened to the left side of the saddle, on which the bearer of the falcon rests his 

 arm. When a wolf is sighted, the eagle is loosed, and at once flies after the wolf, and overtakes 

 it in a short time, striking at its. head and eyes with its talons, and buffeting it with its wings. 

 This attack so disconcerts the wolf that it gives time for the dogs to come up and seize it. 

 The habits of the Siberian wolf are rather different from those in West Russia, and the 

 settlers and nomad Tartars of Siberia are far more adventurous and energetic in defending 

 themselves against its ravages than the peasants of European Russia. Being mounted, they 

 also have a great advantage in the pursuit. The result is that Siberian wolves seldom appear 

 in large packs, and very rarely venture to attack man. Yet the damage they do to the flocks 

 and herds which constitute almost the only property of the nomad tribes is very severe. 



Both the Russians and Siberians believe that when a she-wolf is suckling her young she 

 carefully avoids attacking flocks in the neighbourhood of the place where the cubs lie, but 

 that if she be robbed of her whelps she revenges herself by attacking the nearest flock. On 

 this account the Siberian peasants rarely destroy a litter, but hamstring the young wolves, 

 and then catch them when partly grown, and kill them for the sake of their fur. Among 

 the ingenious methods used for shooting wolves in Siberia is that of killing them from sledges. 

 A steady horse is harnessed to a sledge, and the driver takes his seat in front as usual. 

 Behind sit two men armed with guns, and provided with a small pig, which is induced to 

 squeak often and loudly. In the rear of the sledge a bag of hay is trailed on a long rope. 

 Any wolf in the forest near which hears the pig concludes that it is a young wild one 

 separated from its mother. Seeing the hay-bag trailing behind the sledge in the dusk, it 

 leaps out to seize it, and is shot by the passengers sitting on the back seat of the sledge. 



