THE DOG KIND. 



319 



themselves ; and even by instinct, without any 

 education, take to the care of flocks and herds. 

 Tht" wolf, on the contrary, is the enemy of all 

 society ; he does not even keep much compa- 

 ny with those of his kind. When they are 

 seen in packs together, it is not to be consider- 

 ed as a peaceful society, but a combination for 

 war ; they testify their hostile intentions by 

 their loud howlings, and, by their fierceness, 

 discover a project for attacking some great ani- 

 mal, such as a stag or a bull, or to destroy 

 some more redoubtable watch-dog. The in- 

 stant their military expedition is completed, 

 their society is at an end ; they then part, and 

 each returns in silence to his solitary retreat. 

 There is not even any strong attachments be- 

 tween the male and female ; they seek each 

 other only once a year, and remain but a few 

 days together : they always couple in winter ; 

 at which time several males are seen following 

 one female, and this association is still more 

 bloody than the former : they dispute most 

 cruelly, growl, bark, fight, and tear each other; 

 and it sometimes happens that the majori- 

 ty kill the wolf, which has been chiefly prefer- 

 red by the female. It is usual for the she wolf 

 to fly from them all with him she has chosen ; 

 and watches this opportunity when the rest 

 are asleep. 



The season for coupling does not continue 

 above twelve or fifteen days; and usually com- 

 mences among the oldest, those which are 

 young being late.r in their desires. The males 

 have no fixed time for engendering, they pass 

 from one female to the other, beginning at the 

 end of December, and ending at the latter end 

 of February. The time of pregnancy is about 

 three months and a half; and the young 

 wolves are found from the latter end of April to 

 the beginning of July. The long continuance 

 of the wolf's pregnancy is sufficient to make a 

 distinction between it and the dog, did not al- 

 so the fiery fierceness of the eyes, the howl in- 

 stead of barking, and the greater duration of 

 its life, leave no doubt of its being an animal of 

 its own particular species. In other respects, 

 however, they are entirely alike; the wolf 

 couples exactly like the dog, the parts are form- 

 ed in the same manner, and their separation 

 hindered by the same cause. When the she 

 wolves are near their time of bringing forth, 

 they seek some very tufted spot, in the thickest 

 part of the forests ; in the middle of this they 



make a small opening, cutting away the thorns 

 and briars with their teeth, and afterwards car- 

 ry thither a great quantity of moss, which they 

 form into a bed for their young ones. They 

 generally bring forth five or six, and some- 

 times even to nine at a litter. The cubs are 

 brought forth, like those of the bitch, with the 

 eyes closed; the dam suckles them for some 

 weeks, and teaches them betimes to eat flesh, 

 which she prepares for them, by chewing it 

 first herself. Some time after she brings them 

 stronger food, hares, partridges, and birds yet 

 alive. The young wolves begin by playing 

 with them, and end by killing them. The dam 

 then strips them of their feathers, tears them in 

 pieces, and gives to each of them a share. 

 They do not leave the den where they have 

 been littered, till they are six weeks, or two 

 months old. They then follow the old one, 

 who leads them to drink to the trunk of some 

 old tree, where the water has settled, or at 

 some pool in the neighbourhood. If she ap- 

 prehends any danger, she instantly conceals 

 them in the first convenient place, or brings 

 them back to their former retreat. In this 

 manner they follow her for some months ; when 

 they are attacked, she defends them with all 

 her strength, and more than usual ferocity. 

 Although, at other times, more timorous than 

 the male, at that season she becomes bold and 

 fearless ; willing perhaps to teach the young 

 ones future courage by her own example. It 

 is not till they are about ten or twelve months 

 old, and until they have shed their first teeth, 

 and completed the new, that she thinks them 

 in a capacity to shift for themselves. Then 

 when they have acquired arms from nature, 

 and have learned industry and courage from 

 her example, she declines all future care of 

 them, being again engaged in bringing up a 

 new progeny. 



The males and females are in a capacity to 

 engender when two years old. It is probable 

 that the females of this species, as well as of 

 most others, are sooner completed than the 

 males ; but this is certain, that they never de- 

 sire to copulate until their second winter ; from 

 whence we may suppose that they live fifteen 

 or twenty years ; for allowing three years for 

 their complete growth, this multiplied by se- 

 ven, gives them a life of twenty-one ; most ani- 

 mals, as has been observed, living about seven 

 times the number of years which they take 



