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146 MAMMALIA— WOLF. 



Like all the wild animals of the dog kind, they unite in packs to hunt 

 down animals which individually they could not master, and, during their 

 sexual season, engage in the most furious combats with each other for the 

 possession of the females. 



In the regions west of Hudson's Bay, wolves are often seen, both in the 

 woods and on the plains, though their numbers are inconsiderable, and it is 

 not common to see more than three or four in a pack. They appear to be 

 very fearful of the human race, bitt are destructive to the Indian dogs, and 

 frequently succeed in killing such as are heavily laden, and unable to keep 

 %p with the rest. The males are not so swift as the females ; and they 

 seem to lead a forlorn life during the winter, being seldom seen in pairs 

 until the commencement of spring. They bring forth their young in bur- 

 rows, and though it might well be inferred that they are fiercer at those 

 times, than under ordinary circumstances, yet Hearne states that he has 

 frequently seen the Indians take the young ones from the dens and play 

 with them. They never hurt the young wolves, but always replace them 

 in their dens, sometimes painting the faces of these whelps with vermilion 

 or red ochre. 



At the highest northern latitudes which have yet been explored, the 

 wolves are very numerous and very audacious. They are generally to be 

 found at no gi'eat distance from the huts of the Esquimaux, and follow these 

 people from place to place, being apparently very much dependent upon 

 them for food, during the coldest season of the year. They are frequently 

 seen in packs of twelve or more, prowling about at a short distance from 

 the huts of the Esquimaux, lying in wait for the Esquimaux dog, which 

 they are successful in killing, if he wanders so far as to be out of reach of 

 assistance from his master. 



When the aboriginal Americans first gave place to European adventurers, 

 and the forests, which had flourished for ages undisturbed, began to fall be- 

 fore the unsparing axe, the vicinity of the settler's lonely cabin resounded 

 with the nightly howling of wolves, attracted by the refuse provision usually 

 to be found there, or by a disposition to prey upon domestic animals. 

 During Avinter, when food was most difficult to be procured, packs of these 

 famished and ferocious creatures were ever at hand, to run down and destroy 

 any domestic animal found wandering beyond the enclosures, which their 

 individual or combined efforts could overcome, and the boldest housedog 

 could not venture far from the door of his master without incurring the risk 

 of being killed and devoured. The common wolf was then to be found in 

 considerable numbers throughout a great extent, if not the whole of North 

 America ; at present, it is only known as a resident of the remote wooded 

 and mountainous districts. 



