them, with the sheep that had alleg- 
edly disappeared, on the black market 
to local butchers. One of the butchers 
had suddenly grown nervous, however, 
when he saw a number of forest police 
in the pass. In his anxiety not to be 
i found out, he had dumped his “hot” 
merchandise, and later the stinking 
sheep had been scattered about to 
make it look as if they had been killed 
by wolves. 
This was certainly not the only at- 
tempted fraud in this first year of 
compensation. Altogether nearly 38 
million lire (about $70,000) was paid 
j out in the Abruzzi in 1974. We es- 
| timated that at least half the reported 
kills were either outright inventions 
! or the work, not of wolves, but dogs. 
1 #' Similarly, Franco Tassi of the national 
park estimated that the real damage 
done was from 20 to 30 percent of 
what was claimed. In following years 
the conditions for paying out compen- 
sation were made stricter at our sug- 
gestion. Only killings actually iden- 
tified as such would qualify, shepherds 
had to have a sufficient number of 
dogs, and one shepherd could not be 
o I in charge of more than a hundred 
sheep. This last requirement could 
n | easily be met by local shepherds, but 
because it was hard on those who came 
» 1 with their big flocks in summer, it 
to I was not strictly enforced. As a result 
ill | the forest administration began build- 
h- i ing big, secure pens in the mountains 
i that neither wolf nor bear could enter, 
al l Overall, compensation payments 
ed > greatly diminished. 
While sheep are constantly 
an i watched, cows and horses graze freely, 
nd fc and on several occasions I saw wolves 
lie i making their way through herds of 
ras j cattle or horses without these animals 
we ) taking any notice and without the 
tat- 1 wolves showing any sign of wanting 
not i to attack them. To the wolves, which 
ler, I are relatively small in the Abruzzi and 
to I run only alone or in small packs, cattle 
jge I and horses are simply too big. It was 
ion: I only rarely that we could be sure that 
: of I a dead calf or foal had been killed 
pc' I by a wolf. In most cases the young 
animal had been separated from its 
y of I mother. With horses, the mother was 
live I always hobbled. This is a normal prac- 
illedl tice that makes the horse easier to 
hadl catch, but it is a handicap against 
0 in- 1 wolves, and many foals have paid for 
itiep-l it with their life. 
mal»| By far the largest number of sheep 
■d byl killed while we were working in the 
1 noil area were solitary animals. At night 
[ soldi wolves crept up to the fenced pens and 
If you’d like to know more about charcoal mellowing, drop us a line here at the distillery. 
IT’S EASIER TO UNDERSTAND how 
we charcoal mellow Jack Daniel’s, after 
you’ve peered inside a charcoal mellowing vat. 
We can show you how tiny 
drops of Jack Daniel ’s 
trickle slowly through 
roormhigh vats of tightly 
tamped charcoal. And we 
can tell you that nothing 
(not even aging) gives our 
whiskey 
more smoothness. After 
you’ve looked inside a 
charcoal vat, you’ll always 
remember how we use 
them. After a sip of Jack 
Daniel’s, we believe, you’ll 
be glad we always will. 
Tennessee Whiskey • 90 Proof • Distilled and Bottled by Jack Daniel Distillery 
Lem Motlow, Prop., Inc., Route 1, Lynchburg (Pop. 361), Tennessee 37352 
Placed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Government 
