THE DOG FAMILY 53 



Canada lynx. The largest specimen that ever came into 

 my hands (on Pryor Creek, Montana) measured in length 

 of head and body 31 inches, tail 7 inches, height at shoulder 

 18 inches, and weighed 18 pounds. The largest of nine speci- 

 mens killed by Colonel Roosevelt's party in Routt County, 

 Colorado, in 1901, weighed 39 pounds. One killed near Ashe- 

 ville. North Carolina, in 1900, is reported to have weighed 

 51 pounds. 



No lynxes are found in the lowlands of the tropics, or in 

 South America. 



THE DOG FAMILY 



Canidae 



Of all the wild creatures of North America, none are more 

 despicable than wolves. There is no depth of meanness, 

 treachery, or cruelty to which they do not cheerfully descend. 

 They are the only animals on earth which make a regular 

 practice of killing and devouring their wounded companions 

 and eating their own dead. I once knew a male wolf to 

 kill and half -devour his female cage mate, with whom he had 

 lived a year. 



In captivity, no matter how well yarded, well fed, or 

 comfortable, a wolf will watch and coax for hours to induce 

 a neighbor in the next cage to thrust through tail or paw, 

 so that he may instantly seize and chew it off, without mercy. 

 But in the face of foes capable of defence, even gray wolves 

 are rank cowards and, unless cornered in a den, will not 

 even stop to fight for their own cubs. 



