CHAPTER V. 



THE LOG FAMILY. 



a mt^ K\-^ "^--Wt''' ^f^^^:^ ^^ rpHE tribe now treated is called the Dog Family, and 



* JHH|^HE ^^ ^K ^Kf^%f 1 I rightly so, for our domestic dogs are included 



....^ ...,. :^^3S ~~ in the group, which comprises the Wolves, Dogs, 



^^^ wS^ l^^SS'^ '< ^ v'- ' ■ Jackals, \\M Dogs, and Foxes. Their general characters 



■' T mti ^ ^!^ '^M^jM^'-J'-'-^'*' ™'^ *"'-' f'™ili'^^' *'' "'^■'^'^^ description, but it should ha noted 



m .WK^^M ^^^ ^W ^^Wi' ,< "^ t^»!^t the foxes dift'er from the dogs in having contracting 



- . '^*"*^^^B^.tSilSW"Si^"'5 pupils to the eye (which in bright sun closes like a cat's 



• , ' " -a^^^BB^^^!.. JJP"'?^ t'^ <^ "lei"'" ^I'O *"^^ ^'""S power of climbing. The origin 



f ' ',v«' ^'^^M ■BJs*'*t-^-'/>'!l This great enemy of man and his dependants — the 



"" ■'*''- '' J^^l '^ ■ '"^ creature against the ravages of which aluiost all the 



^^^( ^'JJH early races of Europe had to combine, either in tribes, 



'iiJ-^ 'jU»v \illages, or principalities, to protect their children, them- 



jj|HMH| selves, and their cattle — was formerly found all over the 



^ ^^^^^P northern hemisphere, both in the Old and New Worlds. 



4^1 In India it is rather smaller, but equally fierce and 



j'hoio III sdwUMik phoin. •....!:...«. '. I, r.^„. cunning, though, as there are no long winters, it does 



A GKOwiNG cci;. not gather in packs. It is still so common in parts of 



Note h,™ tbo ivr.if cub deveioiis the L.ng piiatern.,, f}^^ Kocky jMountaius that the cattle and sheep of the 



liirsB feet, and iMOg jaw before its lx.dy grows in iiiu- i , i 'i i -i i r xi -\t j. • l X' 11 



j,ojtioQ, ranch-holders and wdd game ot the JNational lellow- 



stone Park suffer severely. In Switzerland the ancient 

 organisations of wolf clubs in the cantons are still maintained. In Brittany the Grand 

 Louvetier is a government oflBcial. Every very hard winter wolves from the Carpathians and 

 Eussia move across the frozen ri\ers of Europe even to the forests of the Ardennes and of 

 Fontainebleau. In Norway tliey ravage the reindeer herds of the Lapps. Only a few years 

 ago an artist, his wife, and servant were all attacked on their way to Budapest, in Hungary, 

 and the man and his wife killed. The last British wolf was killed in 1680 by Cameron of 

 Lochiel. Wolves are common in Palestine, Persia, and India. 



Without going l.iack over the well-known history of the species, we will give some anecdotes 

 of the less commonly known exploits of these fierce and dangerous brutes. JNIr. Kipling's 

 "Jungle Book" has given us an "heroic" picture of the life of the Indian wolves. There is 

 a great deal of truth in it. Even the child-stealing by wolves is very probably a flict, for native 

 o])inion is unanimous in crediting it. Babies laid down by their mothers when working in the 

 fields are constantly carried off and devoured by them, and stories of their being S[iared and 

 suckled by the she-wolves are very numerous. 



Indian wolves hunt in comliination, without assemliling in large i)acks. The following is a 

 i-emarkable instance, recorded by (ieneral Douglas Ilamihon : "When returning with a friend 

 from a trip to the mountain ca\es of Ellora, we saw a herd of antelope near a range of low 

 rocky hills ; and as there was a dry nullah, or watercourse, we decided on having a stalk. 

 While cfcepiiig up th(^ nullah, we noticed two animals coming across the 2)lain on our left. 

 We took them at first for li'op;ii-(ls, hut then saw that they were wolves. When they were 



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