THE WOLF. 183 



and that the Russians avail themselves of this fact to repel its 

 attacks ; and more recently Mr. Edward Forbes has stated that 

 the Norwegians are well aware of its dislike to anything sus- 

 pended over head, and that at Stalheim, in Norway, ropes are 

 suspened at several parts of the roads, from a pole on each side, 

 for the purpose of warding off the wolves which abound there. * 

 Of the North American wolf it is stated, that a bladder hung 

 upon a pole, and blown about by the^wind, will deter him from 

 molesting the numerous herds of Dmitri GOBI ; and that he will 

 always attack a reindeer when loose, but if the animal is tied to 

 a stake, he fears to approach, considering that a pitfall is near, 

 and that the deer is placed there to entice him to it. f 



The female of the common wolf goes with young nine weeks, 

 and at each litter she has from eight to nine cubs, whose eyes 

 remain closed until about the twelfth day. 



If the young cubs be procured, they may be rendered tolerably 

 tame, and several instances have been recorded of their attach- 

 ment j and most of these are so well known even to general 

 readers that I need here only allude to the fact. J Nevertheless, 

 the remark of Shakespeare's Fool is not altogether unjust : 



" He's mad that trusts in the tameness of a wolf;" 



(K. Lear, Act III. Sc. 6.) 



for it is only while the animal is under some restraint, and 

 reminded, as it were, of its dependance on its master, that any 

 reliance can be placed upon it. The tameness of a chained 

 or caged animal is perhaps oftener the result of a prudent and 

 cunning perception in the animal, than of real disinterested affec- 

 tion for its master. The author of a work published about a 

 century since, says, "Two young wolves, brought up at our 

 house, seemed to be very sociable, but they soon undeceived us. 

 The sly animals one morning quarrelled with a dog, and tore 

 him to pieces ; they likewise killed three kids, and then marched 



* Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. ix. (1836), p. 171. t Menageries, vol. i. p. 168. 

 t See the Mirror, vol. xxviii. (1837), p. 21; and Col. Hamilton Smith's 

 Natural History of Dogs (Edinb. 1839), vol. i. p. 140. 



