94 WOLF DAYS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 



except when ravenous with hunger and desperate, they 

 remained near their rocks or dens in the deep forests, 

 going abroad at night to howl at the imperturbable 

 moon or forage on inert game or peaceful flocks. The 

 swift, and sometimes contrary, breezes of the "Wolf 

 Days" bewildered the sense of smell in many dogs, 

 with the result that the wolves* with a sly look in their 

 dark eyes would dart by the unwary canines, or spring 

 over a fence into a barnyard, killing a sheep while the 

 farmer milked his cows only a few feet away. While 

 deer in fenced enclosures or "preserves" are sure to 

 deteriorate without the predatory animals to keep them 

 from succumbing to what Charles John Andersson 

 called "inanition," which manifests itself in barrenness 

 and proneness to disease, it would be a foolhardy pro- 

 cedure to place wolves in "parks." The wolves would 

 "corner" the deer at the fences, killing them down to 

 the last one, thereby leaving none for the human hunt- 

 ers. However, in the open, predatory animals are nec- 

 essary adjuncts and assets to the game. Game ani- 

 mals, particularly elk and deer, must be kept moving, 

 ever on the alert, to be worthy of the name of game. 

 If their enemies are removed, they soon degenerate 

 to the level of domestic cattle, lose their fine heads, 

 (unless specially fed) decrease in size, and in 

 the end become prey to all manner of pesti- 

 lences. Nature's methods, and Nature's methods 

 alone, which includes the existence of wolves, 

 makes for the continuance of a fine, virile, 

 speedy race of deer. On the other hand, foxes,- wild- 



