98 JOYOUS EXCITEMENT 



was so great that by-and-by the boy began to get 

 frightened, and his father thought it best to take 

 him away. As he did so, the wolves rushed to the 

 end of the cage, and standing up and pressing against 

 it, gazed longingly after the boy. An hour later they 

 returned to see if the animals had recovered from 

 their excitement, but the moment they appeared 

 all three wolves were up again, as excited about the 

 boy as before. 



What did it mean? my friend asked me. Did 

 they want to devour the boy ? 



I thought not. My answer was that, according to 

 his own account, the animals seemed to have been 

 in a joyful and affectionate rather than a savage, 

 devouring mood, but what it was in the one boy that 

 put them in such a state was a mystery to me. 



Years later, and not long ago, I witnessed a similar 

 demonstration on the part of two wolves in a cage, 

 one, if not both, the Canadian timber wolf, the 

 biggest of all the wolves. They became extremely 

 excited at the presence of a child who came close to 

 the bars, their tongues lolling out, and straining as if 

 to get out and caress the child with their tongues. 



Here is an account of a similar incident from 



Australia : 



The writer went with his wife and two Httle children, aged two 

 and four, to the Royal Park at Melbourne, where the wild animals 

 are kept. There they came upon a cage with four wolves lying 

 stretched on the ground. These took no notice of the writer, his 

 wife and elder child; but the moment the younger one toddled 

 up they sprang simultaneously to their feet and made for the 

 corner of the cage nearest her. Not content with this, two of the 

 largest stood on their hind feet and pressed themselves hard 



