AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 



7S 



PRAIRIE WOLF. 



CANIS LATRJINS. 



[Plate VII.] 



Small Wolf. Du Pratz, Louisiana, vol. ii. p. 54. — 

 Prairie Wolf. Lewis & Clark. — Canis latrans. 

 Sat, Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, i. p. 168. 

 Richardson, Faun. Jim. bor. 73. — Barking Wolf. 

 GoDMAN, i. p. 260. — Philadelphia Museum. 



It is a subject of regret, that the information we possess 

 respecting most of our native quadrupeds, and more espe- 

 cially of those which are confined to the western portion of 

 this continent, should be so exceedingly scanty and defec- 

 tive; this is particularly the case with the subject of our pre- 

 sent sketch; by far the greater proportion of our knowledge 

 of the Prairie Wolf being derived from the description 

 given of it by Mr. Say, in the work above cited; and that 

 of Dr. Richardson, in his Fauna Americana Boreali; it is 

 true, that it had been previously noticed by other travel- 

 lers, but, their accounts are too succinct and confused to af- 

 ford such data as are required, either to establish its identity, 

 or to enable us to ascertain its peculiar habits. We shall, 

 therefore, freely avail ourselves of the labours of the distin- 

 guished naturalists just mentioned, incorporating with their 

 descriptions, such additional information as we have met, in 

 the course of our investigations. 



The Prairie Wolf appears to have been well known to 

 Indian traders, and by them distinguished from its kindred 

 species, long before it was recognised by naturalists. Dr. 

 Richardson states, that skins of this animal have always 

 formed part of the Hudson Bay Company's importations, 

 under the title of cased wolves; so called because they are 

 not split open like the skins of larger animals, but stripped 

 off and inverted as those of the fox and rabbit. 



They are found in the western parts of the United States 

 and Canada, being extremely numerous in the prairies to 

 the west of the Missouri, and also occur, though not so 

 plentifully, in the vicinity of the Colombia. Their north- 

 ern limit is about the fifty-fifth degree of north latitude; 

 but our information as to their southern range is very 

 vague, though it is probable that they are found in the 

 northern provinces of Mexico. 



Their general colour is cinereous or grey, mixed with 

 black, dull fulvous or cinnamon above. The heir is dusky 

 plumbeous at base, dull cinnamon in the middle of its 

 length, and grey or black at its extremity; it is longer on 

 the vertebral line, than on other parts of the body. The 

 ears are erect, rounded at tip and lined with grey hair; of 



a cinnamon colour behind. The eyelids are edged %vith 

 black; the superior eyelashes are black beneath and at tip 

 above; the supplemental lid is margined with blackish 

 brown before and edged with the same colour behind; the 

 iris is yellow and the pupil blue-black; there is a blackish- 

 brown spot upon the lachrymal sac. The face is of a cin- 

 namon colour, with a greyish tint on the nose; the lips are 

 white, edged with black, and having three rows of black 

 bristles. The head between the ears is grey, intermixed 

 with a dull cinnamon colour, the hairs being dull plumbeous 

 at base. The colour, of the sides is paler than that of the 

 back, with faint black bands above the legs, which are of a 

 cinnamon colour on the outside, becoming brighter poste- 

 riorily. The tail is straight, fusiform, and bushy, of a grey 

 colour mixed with cinnamon, and having a spot near the 

 base above and the tip black; beneath it is white. 



These animals differ exceedingly in their markings and 

 general colour, some specimens not having the brown tints, 

 but being almost wholly of a grey hue, with an intermix- 

 ture of black in irregular spots and lines; other individuals 

 have a broad black mark on the shins of the fore legs, like 

 the European wolf. Our representation is taken from well- 

 preserved specimens in the Philadelphia Museum, obtained 

 by Mr. T. R. Peale, whilst attached to the Expedition to 

 the Rocky Mountains, under the command of Major Long. 



The Prairie Wolf is about three feet and a half in length, 

 including the tail, which is about one foot. The ears are 

 four inches in height from the top of the head. The extre- 

 mity of the trunk of the tail, reaches the projection of the 

 OS calcis, when the leg is extended. They bear so strong 

 a resemblance to the domestic dog, so common in the In- 

 dian villages, that Mr. Say is of opinion they are the ori- 

 ginal stock from whence the latter is derived. Their 

 bark is also very similar to that of the dog; in fact the first 

 two or three notes cannot be distinguished from those of a 

 small terrier, but these are succeeded by a prolonged yell. 

 It was from this peculiarity of barking, that Mr. Say be- 

 stowed the specific name of latrans on this animal. This 

 species does not diffuse the offensive odour, so remarkable 

 in most of the other species, particularly, the nubilus (Say.) 



The Prairie Wolves occur in great numbers in the great 

 western plains, uniting like their brethren the jackals, in 

 packs for the purpose of hunting deer, which they fre- 

 quently succeed in running down and killing, particularly 

 in a hard winter when a crust forms on the snow. It is 

 also said, that they will drive these animals into a lake and 

 remain concealed in the vicinity, watching till the exhausted 

 deer return, and fall an easy prey to their insatiate pursuers. 

 This is the more probable, as it is well known that some of 

 the other species of American wolves practice equally inge- 

 nious stratagems (o entrap animals of superior speed. Cap- 



