46 THE AMERICAN WOLF. 



discover at great distances ; and where such provision is 

 to be obtained in great plenty, they become very fat and 

 lose their ferocity to a singular degree. When kept in 

 close confinement and fed upon vegetable matter, they be- 

 come tame and harmless, but are very shy, restless and 

 timid, expressing the greatest alarm at the approach of a 

 stranger, and striving to escape from observation. The 

 voice of this wolf is a prolonged, discordant howl, which, 

 when uttered by numerous individuals at once, is discord- 

 ant and frightful. The period of gestation, etc., in this spe- 

 cies, is in every respect analogous to that of the common dog. 

 They bring forth their young in burrows, and though it 

 might be inferred that they are fiercer at those times than 

 underordinary circumstances, yet Hearne states that he has 

 frequently seen the Indians take the young ones from the 

 dens and play with them. They never hurt the young 

 wolves, but always replace them in their dens, sometimes 

 painting the faces of these whelps, with vermilion or red 

 ochre. 



The wolves of Florida are larger than a dog, and are 

 perfectly black, except the females, which have a white 

 spot on the breast, but they are not so large as the wolves of 

 Canada and Pennsylvania, which are of a yellowish-brown 

 color. 



The Prairie, or Barking Wolf, derives his name from 

 being found in the prairies of the west, and from resembling 

 the dog very distinctly in his bark. They are found in 

 large packs, following in the train of a herd of buffalo or 

 deer, for the purpose of preying on such as may die of dis- 

 ease, or in consequence of wounds inflicted by the hunters. 

 This species is remarkably sagacious and intelligent. Mr. 

 TITIAN PEALE once attempted to take one by means of a 

 trap, the bait of w^hich was placed three feet above the 

 flooring. The trap was about six feet long, and nearly 

 the same in breadth. Notwithstanding this arrangement, 

 a wolf actually burrowed under the flooring, and pulled 



