THE GRAY WOLF 55 



nation, which is still being waged. Several states in the cattle 

 country of the Great Plains offer cash bounties on wolf scalps 

 ranging from $2 to $20, and large sums of money have been 

 paid out for them. In Montana the number of wolves has 

 so greatly diminished that in the course of a month in the 

 saddle in 1901, in wild country, no Gray Wolves were seen, 

 and only four coyotes. Wolves have now become so scarce 

 that the occupation of the professional "wolfer" is almost 

 gone. 



Nevertheless, even on the cattle plains, the Gray Wolf 

 is very far from being extinct; and as long as the "bad 

 lands" remain, with their thousands of washout holes, and 

 tens of thousands of rabbits, the gray marauder will remain. 

 In the far North, above the Arctic Circle, and in the land 

 of the musk-ox, in 1899, Mr. C. J. Jones and his companion 

 were so beset by packs of huge and fierce White Wolves, 

 seeking to devour their five living musk-ox calves, that for over 

 forty-eight hours they fought them continuously at short 

 range, killing a wolf at every shot. 



The young of the Gray Wolf are usually five in number, 

 and are born early in May. At first they are of a sooty- 

 brown color, and are distinguishable from coyote puppies 

 by the large size of the head. One which was examined 

 when four days old measured 9J^ + 3 inches, 1 and weighed 

 16 ounces. When twenty days old, it was 15+4 inches, and 

 weighed 4J/2 pounds. 



The cry of the Gray Wolf is a prolonged, deep-chested 

 howl, corresponding with B-flat below middle C, not broken 



1 That is, head and body, 9j/2 inches; tail, 3 inches. 



