30 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 



The face below this triangle is white, and the latter color is con 

 tinned semicircularly upon the upper part of the throat. 



The under jaw is blackish, this color extending along the line of 

 the mouth, and passing about half an inch beyond the junction of 

 the lips at the angle. The inner surface of the ears is clothed with 

 short light yellowish hair ; their tips on the outside are blackish 

 gray, and the whole of the rest of their posterior surface is yellow 

 which color descends encircling the neck, and is the only color on 

 the anterior parts, with the exception of a white spot on the 

 breast. The inferior parts of the body are white, tinted slightly in 

 some individuals with faint reddish brown. The tail is thick and 

 bushy, and the fur on the upper side is pale yellow, slightly tipped 

 with black ; the under part 4 are rust colored, and the end entirely 

 black. 



The most common method of destroying foxes is by hounds and 

 the gun. If near his burrow, to avoid the dogs, he will take to 

 the earth, and has then to be dug out ; he will sometimes ascend 

 an inclined tree, and is then to be shot or the tree felled, when 

 the dogs will dispatch him. He may be taken by traps and snares, 

 but of these he is very wary. The most easy means are poi- 

 soned meats, prepared and used as pointed out for the destruc- 

 tion of wolves. 



WOLVES. There are several varieties of wolves, viz. : The 

 COMMON -WOLF, the PRAIRIE or BARKING WOLF, the DUSKY 

 WOLF and the BLACK WOLF. The common, prairie, and black 

 ones are those only which are pests of the farm. In all new set- 

 tlements, and in the prairie region of our country, these species are 

 dangerous enemies to the domestic animals of the farmer. 



THE COMMON WOLF. When the aboriginal Americans first 



fave place to European adventurers, and the forests which had 

 ourished for ages undisturbed, began to fall before the unsparing 

 axe, the vicinity of the settler's lonely cabin resounded with the 

 nightly bowlings of wolves, attracted by the refuse provision usu- 

 ally to be found there, or by a disposition to prey upon the 

 domestic animals. During winter, when food was most difficult to 

 be procured, packs of these famished and ferocious creatures were 

 ever at hand, to run down and destroy any domestic animal found 

 wandering beyond the enclosures, which their individual or com- 

 bined efforts could overcome, and the boldest house-dog could not 

 venture far from the door of his master without incurring the risk 

 oJ being killed and devoured. The common wolf was then to ba 



