AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 
265 
THE BLACK WOLF. 
CAMS NUBIL US. 
(Plate XXIII. Vol. 2.) 
Canis Lycaon; Linn. Shrel. Saeilgthiere, pi. 89. God- 
man, Vol. 1. p. 267. — Loup Noir; Buff. 9. pi. 41. 
Black Wolf: Say in Long’s Expedition to the Rocky 
Mountains, p. 102, Vol. 1. — Menagerie Living Ani- 
mals exhibited in Philadelphia, winter of 1832 — 3. 
There was, for some time, much doubt among natu- 
ralists, whether the Black Wolf should be considered a 
separate species, or only a variety of the common Wolf; 
but, on a close investigation of the internal and anatomi- 
cal structure, habits and general appearance of the Black 
Wolf, it has become a settled question that it is a differ- 
ent animal altogether. Of the two animals belonging to the 
Zoological gardens of London, it is remarked, “that they 
exhibit real and substantial marks of distinction of suffi- 
cient value to sanction their separation from the other 
species — considerably longer and more robust than the 
common Wolf, and differing greatly in the expression of 
their physiognomy; neither in figure nor in countenance 
are they remarkable for that starved and gaunt appear- 
ance which is the common and well known attribute of 
the latter. In fact, they have altogether a more fierce and 
formidable, but, at the same time, a more noble and less 
sinister aspect. 
“Their hair, which is of considerable length, especial- 
ly along the middle of the back and shoulders, where it 
forms an indistinct and scattered mane, is mottled with 
various shades of black, gray and white, giving to the 
whole animal that dark and clouded colour which consti- 
tutes one of its most peculiar and striking characteristics. 
The colouring, which, on the upper parts of the body 
is deep black, becomes somewhat lighter on the sides, 
and assumes a yet brighter shade beneath: the chin and 
angles of the mouth are nearly white; the gray tinge pre- 
dominating over the darker shades in various other parts, 
but by no means in so regular a manner as to merit a par- 
ticular description. The ears are remarkably short, and 
the tail is also somewhat shorter in proportion than that 
of the common Wolf, not reaching in its solid form be- 
neath the posterior bend (which, in all these animals, is 
formed by the heel) of the hind legs.” 
These animals, it appears, were sent to England by the 
Hudson’s Bay Company, by some of whose hunters they 
had been trapped in the northern regions of America. 
They are represented as exceedingly voracious, tearing 
W w w 
their meat and swallowing it in large gobbets, and after- 
wards gnawing the bones with truly wolfish avidity. 
“Their length is four feet and a quarter from the tip of 
the nose to the origin of the tail.” 
Dr. Godman, in describing the Black Wolf, says: “in 
general appearance and the relative proportions of the 
different parts of the body, this Wolf resembles the com- 
mon wolf, (Canis Lupas,) but in size it is intermediate to 
the fox and common wolf. The colour of the animal is 
its most remarkable characteristic: it is entirely black, 
without the slightest admixture of any other colour.” 
Of these two descriptions of the Black Wolf, the wri- 
ter considers the former the most correct, having, from 
actual observation, closely noticed the structure, habits 
and disposition of the animal, as far as a state of half do- 
mesticity would permit. 
The animal from which the drawing in the preceding 
plate was taken, belongs to the celebrated Menagerie of 
living animals, exhibited in various parts of this country 
by Messrs. Welsh, Purdy & Co., and corresponds in most 
particulars with those belonging to the Zoological gar- 
dens of London. Dr. Godman, however, may be correct, 
(and I am inclined to think he is,) in regard to the colour 
of the animal being perfectly black, as long confinement 
and restraint on the natural habits of this Wolf, may have 
great influence in changing the pelage or its colour. 
The Black Wolf appears to be confined chiefly to the 
Rocky Mountains, and the more northerly regions of 
America; it is, perhaps, the rarest of its genus, and but 
few specimens have ever been presented to public view, 
although almost every district of North America is infest- 
ed with the other species. 
The animal under immediate notice was brought by 
some traders, while yet a whelp, from the neighbourhood 
of the Rocky Mountains, to one of the towns on the Mis- 
souri, from thence it found its way to the Menagerie spo- 
ken of; but in consequence of much suffering by confine- 
ment, especially with the mange, it became necessary to 
remove it from the company of the other wild animals. 
This Wolf, although at times it evinced much ferocity, 
would generally suffer the writer to pet it, and would fre- 
quently lie down and crouch like a dog, and utter the 
same whining cry of humility; it was exceedingly active 
and graceful in every motion, and when irritated, would 
growl and snap with violence at any object intended to 
worry it, and when punished, would yelp like a dog; he 
was not gaunt, but fat, and very stately in his appearance, 
moving about with head and tail very erect. The fatness, 
however, in truth, proceeded from the abundance of food 
given it, without exertion on the animal’s part to obtain 
it; and, being deprived of the necessity of seeking a sub- 
