SLEDGE DOGS OF THE NOllTil. 189 



ing, bold up tlieir paws and wliine pIlIiiiHy and 

 appealingiy. 



They receive a kind word hy a sliow of teeth 

 instead of a Avag — indeed, are anj^thiug but 

 friendly, except at "chnck" time and then limit 

 it to the grub with a few exceptions, of course. 

 Most of them, however, Indian-like, believe in 

 the old maxim "Familiarity breeds contempt" 

 and thus they treat kindness with suspicion and 

 turn tail as if it preceded work or a licking and 

 perhaps both. 



If left alone any length of time, one will 

 start up a coyote-like howl and all join in one 

 after the other in the chorus that takes the ap- 

 pearance of a man Avith a "big stick'' to quell. 

 If left alone they will keep it up for hours, stop- 

 ping as it commenced by degrees, apparently 

 without reason. They are fed when circum- 

 stances permit and if permitted, will gorge 

 themselves to the point of bursting, eating 

 enough to last a week and camping alongside of 

 it until even the bones are cleaned up and not 

 enough left to feed a fly. Indian-like, however, 

 they are always on hand for the next meal, hun- 

 gry again. When traveling, they are fed a little 

 daily, but when not, exist on wind, bones and 

 Ip'cks, fish offal and refuse thrown out, or hunt 

 for themselves like wolves, after Arctic hares, 

 lemmings or anything they can find. 



