PKOTECTIVE MEASURES. 



23 



CAPTURE OF WOLF PUPS. 



In no other way can the number of wolves be kept down so surely 

 and so economically as by destroying the young in the breeding dens. 

 It is now positively known that wolves always pair, at least for the 

 breeding season, and a knowledge of their habits, time of breeding, 

 and customar}^ breeding grounds renders it a simple matter to find 

 the dens and secure the i^ups. The large size of the litters makes 

 this method peculiarly important. The usual number is 8, 9, 10, 

 or 11, and the outside limits 5 and 13. In six dens found in the Green 

 River Yalley in March and April, 1906, the young numbered, respec- 

 tively, 5, 5, 8, 9, 10, and 11. 



TIME OF BREEDING. 



Woh'es breed much earlier than is usually supposed even by ranch- 

 men who have lived long in a wolf country. ~ In the Green Eiver 

 and Wind River basins the following breeding dates were obtained, 

 showing that wolf pups are usually born in March or early in April : 



Table 4. — Records shoicing approximate date of l)irtli of icolres in Wyoming. 



Locality. 



Date of finding. 



Number 

 of pups. 



Approximate age. 



Approxi- 

 mate date 

 of birth. 



Big Pinev 



March 30 



9 



2 weeks.. 



March 15 



Cora 



April9 



March 30 



8 



10 

 11 



5 



1 month 



Mnrnh Q 



Stanley 



10 davs l\rfl rrh 90 



Dry Piney basin 



Soda Lake basin 



Early in May 



6 weeks (?) 



March. 

 Do. 

 April 15. 

 March 31. 

 March. 

 April. 





April 22 r, 





Lander . 



Anril .^0 



6 

 6 



1 month 



Eves not open 



do 



Mexican Creek i March 



Dubois April 



a Part of a litter. 



In the Gila Forest Reserve in New Mexico a family of young 

 wolves were old enough to be making excursions to considerable dis- 

 tances from the den on May 20, which would indicate that the}^ had 

 been born some time in March. 



In the National Zoological Park at Washington, according to Dr. 

 Frank Baker, superintendent, young wolves were born on the follow- 

 ing dates : March 23, 24, 27, and 29 ; April 2, 4, 4, 5, 6, and 9 : May 1, 

 and August 31. The period of gestation with the wolf, as with the 

 dog, is nine weeks. The rutting season, therefore, would come 

 mainly in January and February. This should prove the most suc- 

 cessful season for trapping, if a bait can be secured that will attract 

 the mating animals. 



LOCATION OF DENS. 



In Wyoming, as already said, the wolves do not breed far up in the 

 mountains, but after the breeding season follow the cattle to their 



