394 WILD ANIMALS. 



in numbers that, if for no otlier reason than that of self-interest, 

 the Indians would have been prompted to take some steps to save 

 the animals from the wanton slaughter of their hunters ; but they 

 did quite the reverse, and latterly actually encouraged the exter- 

 mination by allowing the animals to be killed when their food and 

 wants had been supplied, which at one time they would not permit. 

 The improvidence that characterizes the savage has in this instance 

 been again exemphfied. 



Next to the hunters, the most deadly enemies to the bufPalo 

 are the wolves, bears, and pumas, or cougars, as they are locally 

 called. The wolves especially are perpetually prowling round 

 the various herds, who take but little notice of them, for it is 

 only a sick calf or a wounded animal that becomes their victim, 

 as the bulls who feed on the outer circle of the herd form a 

 protection to the cows and calves which keep in the centre, and the 

 wolves never attempt to force the outer barrier, for a buffalo bull 

 with his temper roused is more than their match. Even the 

 grizzly bear, the most powerful beast of America, gets frequently 

 the worst of it when he ventures to attack an animal whose 

 horns are in good condition. According to Catlin, there were 

 several varieties of wolves in the country, but the ones that 

 were the most formidable and numerous were the white species. 

 These brutes hunted in gangs of fifty or sixty in number, and 

 appeared in the distance on the green prairies like nothing but a 

 flock of sheep. The Indians used to avail themselves of the fact 

 that buffaloes when herded together seem to have but little dread 

 of wolves, and allow them to approach to very close quarters, for 

 they would cover their bodies with the skins of these animals, and 

 by crawling upon hands and knees they easily drew near the 

 herds without raising any suspicion, and in this way were able to 

 select and shoot down the fattest and the biggest. 



Catlin makes the remark that " at present,- whilst the bufialoes 

 are so abundant [1832] and these ferocious animals [wolves] are 

 glutted with the buffalo's flesh, they are harmless, and every- 

 where sneak away from man's presence ; which I scarcely think 

 will be the case after the buffaloes are all gone, and they are 

 left, as they must be, with scarcely anything to eat." 



