LOVERS OF THE CHASE AND OTHERS 67 



fur." This is especially exemplified during the Winter, when the 

 general effect is a lighter coat among those species inhabiting the 

 Arctic Circle, and a corresponding increase in the length of the fur. 

 A further interesting feature that is worth mention before passing on 

 is that, unlike the Cats, many Wild Dogs hunt in packs. They are, 

 it appears, largely guided during their hunting expeditions by a keen 

 sense of smell, but it has also to be noted that their power of seeing 

 and hearing are remarkably acute. 



The Wolf is an apt illustration of a pack-hunting species, and 

 the reader will be acquainted with accounts of the daring movements 

 of these animals in countries where the weather is of such severity 

 that the creatures inhabiting lonely solitudes are often hard put to it 

 to obtain a living. Hard weather predicts hard hunting, and union 

 being strength, the Wolf puts these things to the test with no small 

 measure of success. At such time its fierce disposition knows no 

 bounds, and its strong, wiry form and powerful teeth are such that 

 its deeds may at times indeed bewilder the least timorous among us. 



There is a species of Wolf in the Falkland Islands, but with that 

 exception the genuine animal is not found outside the Northern 

 Hemisphere. It is quite unknown in both Africa and South America. 

 It nevertheless has a very extensive range, being not only an inhabit- 

 ant of certain parts of Europe, but also 6i the greater part of Asia 

 north of the Himalayas, penetrating as far East as Japan, and it also 

 roams over nearly the whole of North America, as we shall presently 

 see. 



In Britain it appears that the last W r olf disappeared towards 

 the close of the eighteenth century, but its remains are often dis- 

 covered, and not long since a well-known Irish naturalist came across 

 a quantity of bones in the Emerald Isle, where, we are told, this 

 animal was very common in the time of Oliver Cromwell. 



It is during the hard weather that the Wolf travels about in 

 packs. At other times it is either solitary in disposition or is joined 

 by a mate. Open country and the regal splendour of the forest 

 equally appeal to this four-footed hunter. It is a typical haunter 

 of the silences. Its hunting excursions are carried out both by day 

 and night, and although not very plucky when encountered singly, 

 at night, when reinforced by its comrades, or when the pangs of 

 hunger are keen, it exhibits a change of front and is a dangerous 

 beast to encounter. So much so, indeed, that not many years ago 

 over one hundred and sixty people were killed by Wolves in Russia. 



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