THE DOG FAMILY WOLVES. 167 



It is from five to six feet in length, and in the extreme 

 north grows to a still larger size. Those in the Church- 

 ill District of the Hudson's Bay Company have almost 

 white hair, while those from the Eskimo Bay District are 

 characterized by their bluish grey color although occa- 

 sionally black and even fawn colored specimens are found 

 there. 



With the exception of the Alaskan variety, which has 

 coarser hair, the American wolves have finer, denser and 

 longer fur than the European species, and their skins are 

 more valuable, especially those of the blue and white 

 ones. They live in burrows with several outlets, where 

 they bring forth thfeir young in litters of from four to 

 five or even nine. Dr. Richardson says : ' ' The resem- 

 blance between the northern wolves and the domestic 

 dog of the Indians is so great that the size and strength 

 of the wolves seems the only difference. I have more than 

 once taken a band of wolves for the dogs of a party of 

 Indians; and the howl of the animals of both species is 

 prolonged so exactly in the same key that even the prac- 

 ticed ear of an Indian fails at times to discriminate be- 

 tween them. The Indians do not consider the Black Wolf 

 to be a distinct race, but report that one or two black 

 whelps are occasionally found in a litter of Grey 

 Wolves." 



The American Timber Wolf has been observed as far 

 north as twenty-seven degrees and has broad feet well 

 calculated for running in the snow. The skull and denti- 

 tion approach closely to that of the dog. In Alaska wolves 

 prey on the Reindeer, and in other sections the Moose is 

 often their victim, but they always seemed to fear to 

 attack the Bison. 



The Black Thibetan Wolf (Canis-pallipes), is really a 

 climatic variety of the Common Wolf of Europe, but is 

 classed as a separate species. 



Chinese, Japanese, Indian (Canis-pallipes), and South 

 American Wolves (Canis-antarcticus), are of little import- 

 ance commercially. They are all small animals, and their 

 skins are poor in quality. 



The Coyote or Prairie Wolf (Canis-latrans), which is 

 rapidly disappearing before the advance of civilization, 

 is much smaller than any of the other important species 



