PRAIRIE WOLVES ATTACKING A BUFFALO. 29 



they bestow upon him the most devoted attention. 

 However, as long as he is in good health he has little 

 to fear from the marauder ; but the moment that 

 accident, sickness, or loss of strength from starvation 

 occurs, the Jbuffalo's unhappy position is known, and 

 half-a-dozen of these robbers will remain night and 

 day, watching for an opportunity to complete the 

 wreck; and should this not occur as soon as desir- 

 able, not unfrequently they will make a simultaneous 

 assault, one pretending to fly at the victim's head, 

 while another attacks in the rear, using every artifice 

 to cut the buffalo's hamstring, in which they invariably 

 succeed, unless the presence of man should disturb 

 them. 



On one occasion, while hunting,. I obtained an ex- 

 cellent opportunity of witnessing one of these en- 

 counters. At the distance of half a mile I perceived an 

 old bull going through a variety of eccentric movements, 

 which were at the moment perfectly incomprehen- 

 sible. To know what might be the cause, as well as 

 perhaps to learn something new regarding this race, 

 I left my horse and made a most careful stalk without 

 once exposing myself, retaining the advantage of wind 

 till within a hundred yards of the old gentleman. 

 The ground in the vicinity was much broken, and, 

 before attempting to obtain a survey of the situation, 

 I ensconced myself behind a boulder. I had been 

 eminently successful, the first glance told me. There 

 was the bull pretending to feed, while four prairie 

 wolves were lying around him on the sparsely covered 

 soil, tongues out, and evidently short of breath from 

 some excessive exertion. None of the dramatis per- 

 sona had seen me, and I chuckled in my shoes as I 



