86 



The Living Animals of the World 



I'ho)ul>>i L. Jlu.lla.nl, F.Z..S.] 



'WHITE WOI.F. 



US«rll, I'iHCkUi,. 



"Wliite wolves are quite common in Xtnth America, r^eeently two 

 white wolves were l>r<uif;bt to tlie Zoolugical GarJens from Russia, 



was the case even near St. Petersburg at, the 

 same period. A traveller in 1840 was cliased 

 by a pack of wolves so closely that wlien the 

 sledge-horses reached tlie post-house and ruslied 

 into the stable, the doors of which were open, 

 seven of the wolves rushed in alter them. 

 The driver and traveller leaped Irom the sledge 

 just as it reachi^d the building, and horses and 

 wolves rushed }iast them into it. The men 

 then ran up and closed the doors. Having 

 obtained guns, they opened the roof, expecting 

 to see that the liorses had lieen killed. Instead 

 all seven wolves were slinking about beside 

 the terrified horses. All were killed without 

 resistance. 



In Siberia and Russia the wolves in winter 

 are literally star\ing. (^iathering in jiacks, they haunt the roads, and chase tlie sledges with 

 their unfoltering gallop. Seldmn in these days does a liuman life fall victim ; but in very 

 hard winters sledge-horses are often killed, and now and then a peasant. Eabies is very 

 common among wolves. They then entcn- the villages, biting and snapping at every one. 

 IS'umbers of patients are sent yearly from Kussia, and Hungary to the Pasteur Institutes, after 

 being bitten by rabid wolves. In Livonia, in 1823, it was stated that the following animals 

 had been killed by wolves : 1,5,182 sheep, 1,807 oxen, 1,841 horses, 3,270 goats, 4,190 pigs, 

 703 dogs, and numbers of geese ami fowls. They followed the Grand Army from Russia to 

 Germany in 1812, and restocked the forests of Europe with particularly savage wolves. It is 

 said that in the retreat from Moscow twenty-four French soldiers, with their arms in their 

 hands, were attacked, killed, and eaten by a pack of wolves. 



From very early times special breeds of dogs have been trained to guard sheep against 

 the attacks of wolves. Some of these were intcMided to defend the flock on the spot, others 

 to run down the wohes in the open. The former are naturally bred to be very large and 

 hea\y ; the latter, though they must be strong, are light and speedy. Of the dogs which 

 guard the flocks several races still survi\e. Among the most celebrated are those of Albania 

 and the mountainous parts of Turkey, and the wolf-dogs of Tibet, generally called Tibetan Blood- 

 hounds. The Tartar shepherds on the steppes near the Caucasus also keep a very large and 

 ferocious lireed of dog. All these are of the mastiff type, but have long, thick hair. When 

 the shepherds of Albania or JMount Rhodope are driving their flocks along the mountains to 

 the summer pastures, they sometimes travel a distance of 200 miles. Dining this march the 



dogs act as flankers and scouts by day and 

 night, and do liattle with the wolves, which 

 know (juite well the routes along which the 

 sliee}! usually pass, and are on the look-out to 

 pick up stragglers or raid the flock. The 

 Spanish shepherds employ a large white 

 shaggy breed of dog as guards against wolves. 

 These dogs both lead the sheep and bring up 

 the rear in the annual migration of the flocks 

 to and from the summer pastures. In the west 

 of America, now that sheep-ranching on a large 

 scale has been introduced, wolf-dogs are bred to 

 live entirely with the sheep. They are suckled 

 when pujipies by the ewes instead of by their own 

 mothers, and become as it were a part of the flock. 



I'KAIKIE-WOLF, OU COYOTi:. 

 'Jliis is the Btnall, giey, thickly furred species found on tlie prairies. 



