120 WILD ANIMALS. 



An extremely dangerous peculiarity is their cunning trick of 

 appearing to be dead. A Russian peasant found a wolf lying on the 

 ground apparently defunct ; after beating him on the head with a 

 cudgel, to make sure of the fact, he placed the animal on his sledge 

 and took it home, for the sake of the skin. In the night he was dis- 

 turbed by hearing some unusual noise, and looking up saw the 

 wolf alive, standing on the table. Immediately the animal saw him 

 move, it sprang at his throat. His wife jumped up and rushed out 

 of the house for help. When she returned she found her husband 

 lying dead in the room, and the wolf had escaped, 



Captain Lyon ^ noticed a similar exhibition of feigning death, in 

 a wolf of the high northern latitudes. Having caught one of 

 these animals, and it being to all appearance dead, the body was 

 dragged on board his ship. " The eyes, however, were observed 

 to wink whenever any object was pHced near them ; some pre- 

 cautions were therefore considered necessary, and the legs being 

 tied, the animal was hoisted up with his head downwards. He 

 then to our surprise made a vigorous spring at those near him, 

 and afterwards repeatedly turned himself upwards so as to reach 

 the rope by which he was suspended, endeavouring to gnaw it 

 asunder, and making angry snaps at the person who prevented 

 him. Several heavy blows were struck on the back of his neck, 

 and a bayonet was thrust through him, yet above a quarter of an 

 hour elapsed before he died, having completely convinced us that 

 for the future we should not too easily trust to the appearance of 

 death in animals of this description." 



Many ghastly facts are narrated in history about the Russian 

 wolves that followed in the wake of Napoleon's army in the 

 memorable retreat from that country, numbers of the Siberian 

 species even continuing their pursuit to the borders of the Rhine. 

 The French army ir^ the Austrian campaign, when in the vicinity 

 of Vienna, were again troubled with wolves, and had several 

 videttes carried off by them. 



-- In certain districts of France wolves are still very abundant. 



In the Ardennes they are regularly hunted every winter, and 



the Pyrenees are generally full of these animals in the cold seasons, 



A correspondent to the papers, a few years ago, stated -that the 



' " Private Journal of Captain G. F. Lyon," 1824. 



