558 



REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



Miller gives the following for the species: Total length, 1,465 mm. 

 (58 in.) ; tail, 405 mm. (16 in.) ; hind foot, 225 mm. (9 in.). 



Skull and teeth. — Skull very large and teeth strong and power- 

 ful; a median crest of large size is found along the mid-dorsal 

 line in old individuals, especially males, but is lacking in the young. 

 The skull of an old male in the New Harmony collection measures 

 8.5 inches in greatest length; maxillary tooth row 3% inches. 



Range. — The range of this species is unknown but it probably 

 extended in former times from the gulf states to the Arctic regions 

 and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains. It is also 

 somewhat uncertain as to whether the specific name, occidentalis, is 

 the correct one for the wolf of this region. A large number of 

 specific names have been bestowed on American wolves and their 

 status and relationships have not been worked out. 



There is no doubt that timber wolves were abundant through- 

 out Indiana in early days, although the records are somewhat con- 

 fused with those of the prairie wolves. Wied says the former were 

 not uncommon in the great woods about New Harmony in 1832 

 and 1833, and their howling was often heard on cold nights. Dr. 

 Plummer says that none had been seen near Richmond for 15 

 years previous to 1844. 



The great abundance of wolves in the early days is attested by 

 many accounts. In Jefferson County, Prof. Glenn Culbertson states 

 that a den was found as late as 1830. A Mr. Hamer, of Mitchell 

 has told me that he has often heard his grandfather speak of the 

 pack of wolves which followed him into the valley leading from 

 Hamer Cave when he took up a homestead there about 1835. He 

 did not reach the place till nightfall and had a small herd of cattle 

 and hogs which doubtless attracted the beasts. 



This was probably about the time they began to decrease in 

 numbers and after 1840 they were not generally abundant in the 

 southern part of the state. Those that have been found in Brown, 

 Lawrence and Knox counties in recent years are doubtless de- 

 scendants of a small colony that has survived in that region and 

 there may have been others in a few of the swamps and rough 

 regions of the state. In the northern part they were numerous 

 until about 1840. The historian of Wabash County tells of seven 

 being killed in one afternoon in 1849, but it is not certain whether 

 these were timber wolves or coyotes. 



Mr. Upson states that wolves disappeared from Lagrange 

 County fibout 1840. Mr. Sims tells of the capture of 8 timber 



