numerous in the state. Their long drawn howls are 

 often heard, but the animals themselves are seldom 

 seen. All stories of wolves having treed men and 

 attacked children are the invention of some enterpris- 

 in greporter, who was in need of money. The editor 

 probably printed the story, because he thought it in- 

 teresting reading. The only dangerous wild animal 

 in the Minnesota woods is the mosquito. Timber 

 wolves, however, should be exterminated by all avail- 

 able means, because they are enormously destructive 

 to big game and they are no longer needed to pre- 

 serve the balance of nature or to sharpen the wits 

 of deer and moose. 



COYOTES, OR BRUSH WOLVES 

 These animals have within the last twenty years 

 invaded the wooded area of the state. Over the state, 

 at large, they are far more common than the timber 

 wolves. I do not know if they have reached the 

 northeastern section of the state, but in the Itasca 

 Park region they are common. In the summer of 

 1918 I heard them every night on the north and east 

 shore of Elk Lake. They kill a good deal of game and 

 game birds and deserve no protection. 



BEAR 



The case of the black bear, the only kind of bear 

 in Minnesota and adjacent states and provinces, is 

 different. The creature is entirely harmless and de- 

 serves to be protected as a valuable fur-bearer. 



Bears are truly omnivorous, eating fish, carrion, 

 roots, berries, grass, acorns, ants, grubs and anything 

 else eatable. Occasionally a bear will rob a camp or 

 take a fancy to the pigs of a settler. Then of course, 



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