CAT-HUNTING. 199 



sharp talons are stretched forth, then retracted, and 

 it scores the insensible wood with deep indentations; its 

 fur bristles up erect; its tail swells ; the ears are pressed 

 to the head so flatly that it seems to possess none ; 

 and the glistening fangs are exposed as it spits at 

 its enemies. The head in this state resembles very 

 closely in expression, though not in size, that of a 

 rattlesnake. 



A poke with a pole, a blow from a stone or lump 

 of clay, or a charge of dust-shot, generally causes it to 

 descend. It is then either worried by the pack, or 

 affords another chase. 



The Prairie AVolf (Canis latrans), is abundant in 

 Texas. They hunt in packs of from two to six, and 

 a couple, when opening on the track of a deer, will 

 make as much noise as ten couple of hounds. Often, 

 when, tired with a long day's hunt, I have turned in 

 for the night, rolled up in my blankets, under some 

 tree, I have been kept awake for an hour, or two, by 

 their yelling, and sometimes, when the sharp yelps 

 have been softened by distance and I have not been 

 disposed for sleep, I have listened to their cry with 

 pleasure, as it has recalled good runs over the great 

 grass fields of Northamptonshire or Leicestershire. 

 There is no uniformity in the colour of these wolves, 

 and I have frequently seen cubs, in the same litter, of 

 three different colours, black, brown, and yellow. 



They are in no case dangerous to man, being 



