488 BIG GAME OF xoinii AMi;i:i< A. 



sheei>herder, in this case, could jiisi]y lia\t' charged part 

 of his loss to the Wolverine. M, Ilcdhcin \i-\\> hn iliat 

 three were captured young in the Paiish oi" (jrellivaani, in 

 Lai)land, "Tliey were iillowed tlieir i'ldl liberty; but in 

 the autumn, the servant having forgotten to fasten the 

 door of the building wherein tli<^ slicf]) whiv confined, the 

 Gluttons found tlieir way into ii and killi^d several sheep." 



As before stated, the V/olvciine is nocturnal in habit, 

 and there are but few recorded instances of ils lia\ iug Ix-pu 

 seen during the day. An aged trapper once told me of 

 liaving seen one in Pot-hole Yalley, Colorado, one wintry 

 day; and Mr. Lockhart, in Coues" "Fur-bearing Animals," 

 mentions two cases, in each of which the animal sat ux)on 

 its haunches and shaded its eyes with a paw, the inference 

 being that it could not see well in the sunlight. It does 

 not hibernate, but in winter j)rosecutes its search for food 

 with even more vigor than in summer. 



Examples coming within my own observation show the 

 male and female to be equal in size. 



Without doubt, its most conspicuous habit is that of fol- 

 lowing the trapper and destroying his wooden traps. To 

 the Hudson's Bay trapper, who was formerly unable to 

 obtain poison and steel-traps, except at ruinous prices,* 

 this was highly exasperating. Imagine the feelings of a 

 man who has built, set, and baited one hundred and fifty 

 traps, extending over a circuit of fifty miles, and who finds 

 on his first visit, i)erhaps a week later, every one destroyed, 

 the baits eaten, and the catch torn in pieces or carried away! 



* What these prices were, we are unable to say; but, if we may judge from an article in 

 the February, 1890, Cosmopolitan Magazine, by J. Macdonald Oxley, the profits probably 

 exceeded the conservative three per cent, of our Government. Note this: '"There has been 

 a wonderful change in values since the good old days in the early part of this century. 

 When Fort Dunvegan was established, on the Peace River, near tlie Rockies, the regular 

 price of a ti-ade-musket was Rocky Mountain sables piled up on each side until tiiey were 

 level with its muzzle when held upright. X(3w. these sables wtn-e worth in England about 

 three pounds apiece, while the cost of the musket did nut exceed one piiund." 



While this practice may have been more .satisfactory- tu the Indians than that of the 

 early Hollanders, who are said to have used "the strong right hand" as a pound- weight 

 when weighing peltry, the result was practically the same. Mr. (Jxley further says: 

 " These muskets came to be wofully long, in time." If we suppose them to have been fifty 

 inches long, and each hide to have occupied an inch of space, we have a gross profit of 

 $1,495 on each musket ; 



