GRAY WOLF AND COYOTE 



23 



it has learned to fear the deadly rifle, the poison 

 pot, and the trap. Storms, cold and fatigue af- 

 fect it but little, and its powerful teeth, strong 

 jaws and wide gape enable it to bite with great 

 cutting power. In fighting with dogs, every 

 well-aimed snap means either a deep wound or 

 a piece of flesh bitten out. 



The type of this species is a strong, robust ani- 

 mal, cunning and merciless. Its winter coat is 

 long, shaggy and coarse-haired. Its standard 

 color is mixed black and white, but it varies 

 greatly, and unaccountably. In Florida it is 

 often black, in Texas reddish brown, and in the 

 far North it varies from black to white. Al- 

 though in some localities it is called the Timber 

 Wolf, it is equally at home on the treeless prairies 

 of the West, in the dark, evergreen forests of 

 British Columbia, and on the desolate barren 

 grounds of Arctic America. 



Although once very abundant on the great 

 plains, the coming of the cattle ranch and sheep- 

 herder provoked against the Gray Wolf and 

 coyote a relentless war of extermination, which 

 still is being waged. Several states in the cat- 

 tle country of the great plains offer cash boun- 

 ties on wolf scalps ranging from $2 to $10, and 

 large sums of money have been paid out for 

 them. In Montana the number of wolves has 

 so greatly diminished that in the course of a 

 month in the saddle in 1901, in wild country, no 

 Gray Wolves were seen, and only four coyotes. 

 Wolves have now become so scarce that the oc- 

 cupation of the professional "wolfer" is almost 

 gone. 



Nevertheless, even on the cattle plains, the 

 Gray Wolf is very far from being extinct; and 

 as long as the " bad-lands " remain, with their 

 thousands of wash-out holes, and tens of thou- 

 sands of rabbits, the gray marauder will remain. 

 In the far North, above the Arctic Circle, and in 

 the land of the musk-ox, in 1899, Mr. C. J. Jones 

 and his companion were so beset by packs of 

 huge and fierce White Wolves, seeking to devour 

 their five living musk-ox calves, that for over 

 forty-eight hours they fought them continuously 

 at short range, killing a wolf at every shot. 



The young of the Gray Wolf are usually five 

 in number, and are born early in May. At first 

 they are of a sooty brown color, and are dis- 

 tinguishable from coyote puppies by the large 

 size of the head. One which was examined 



when four days old measured 9$ + 3 inches, 

 and weighed 16 ounces. When twenty days old, 

 it was 15 + 4 inches, and weighed 4J pounds. 



The cry of the Gray Wolf is a prolonged, deep- 

 chested howl, corresponding with B-flat below 

 middle C, not broken into a bark, like the cry of 

 the coyote. AVhen seen at home, the Gray 

 Wolf can readily be distinguished from the coy- 

 ote, even at a distance, by the way it carries 

 its tail, — pointing above the horizon. 



Gray Wolves hunt in packs, often in relays, 

 and successfully pull down deer, antelope, and 

 wounded animals of all sizes. In the cattle 

 country their specialty is the destruction of 

 calves and colts. Except in the far North, they 

 know well what firearms are, and are very care- 

 ful to keep out of rifle-shot. 



N. Y. Zoological Park. 



COYOTE. 



To-day the range of the Gray Wolf embraces 

 the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountain re- 

 gion from Mexico to the northern limit of land. 

 Lockwood and Brainard found tracks of a Gray 

 Wolf at Latitude 83° 24'. In Alaska, animals 

 of this species grow larger than hi the United 

 States, and frequently are white instead of gray. 

 A fairly large Gray Wolf is 48 J + 15J inches long, 

 stands 26 inches high at the shoulders, and has a 

 girth measurement of 29i inches. (L. L. Dyche.) 



The Coyote, or Prairie Wolf, 1 is about one- 

 third smaller than the gray wolf, but in form 

 and color the two species look very much alike. 

 It carries its tail low — humbly — as befits a cow- 

 1 Ca'nis la' trans, and related forms. 



