AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 
73 
PRAIRIE WOLF. 
t CANIS LATRANS. 
[Plate YII.] 
Small Wolf. Du Pratz, Louisiana , vol. ii. p. 54. — 
Prairie Wolf. Lewis & Clark. — Canis latrans. 
Say, Expedition to the Rocky Mountains , i. p. 168. 
Richardson, Faun. Am. hor. 73. — Barking Wolf. 
Godman, i. p. 260. — Philadelphia Museum. 
It is a subject of regret, that the information we possess 
respecting most of our native quadrupeds, and more espe- 
cially of those which are confined to the western portion of 
this continent, should be so exceedingly scanty and defec- 
tive; this is particularly the case with the subject of our pre- 
sent sketch ; by far the greater proportion of our knowledge 
of the Prairie Wolf being derived from the description 
given of it by Mr. Say, in the work above cited; and that of 
Dr. Richardson, in his Fauna Americana Boreali; it is 
true, that it had been previously noticed by other travel- 
lers, but, their accounts are too succinct and confused to af- 
ford such data as are required, either to establish ifs identity, 
or to enable us to ascertain its peculiar habits. We shall, 
therefore, freely avail ourselves of the labours of the distin- 
guished naturalists, just mentioned, incorporating with their 
descriptions, such additional information as we have met, in 
the course of our investigations. 
The Prairie Wolf appears to have been well known to 
Indian traders, and by them distinguished from its kindred 
species, long before it was recognized by naturalists. Dr. 
Richardson states, that skins of this animal have always 
formed part of the Hudson Bay Company’s importations, 
under the title of cased wolves; so called because they are 
not split open like the skins of larger animals, but stripped 
off and inverted as those of the fox and rabbit. 
They are found in the western parts of the United States 
and Canada, being extremely numerous in the prairies to 
the west of the Missouri, and also occur, though not so 
plentifully, in the vicinity of the Colombia. Their north- 
ern limit is about the fifty-fifth degree of north latitude; 
but our information as to their southern range is very 
vague, though it is probable that they are found in the 
northern provinces of Mexico. 
Their general colour is cinereous or grey, mixed with 
black, dull fulvous or cinnamon above. The hair is dusky 
plumbeous at base, dull cinnamon in the middle of its 
length, and grey or black at its extremity; it is longer on 
the vertebral line, than on other parts of the body. The 
ears are erect, rounded at tip and lined with grey hair; of 
T 
a cinnamon colour behind. The eyelids are edged with 
black; the superior eyelashes are black beneath and at tip 
above; the supplemental lid is margined with blackish 
brown before and edged with the same colour behind; the 
iris is yellow and the pupil blue-black; there is a blackish- 
brown spot upon the lachrymal sac. The face is of a cin- 
namon colour, with a greyish tint on the nose; the lips are 
white, edged with black, and having three rows of black 
bristles. The head between the ears is grey, intermixed 
with a dull cinnamon colour, the hairs being dull plumbeous 
at base. The colour of the sides is paler than that of the 
back, with faint black bands above the legs, which are of a 
cinnamon colour on the outside, becoming brighter poste- 
riorily. The tail is straight, fusiform, and bushy, of a grey 
colour mixed with cinnamon, and having a spot near the 
base above and the tip black; beneath it is white. 
These animals differ exceedingly in their markings and 
general colour, some specimens not having the brown tints, 
but being almost wholly of a grey hue, with an intermix- 
ture of black in irregular spots and lines; other individuals 
have a broad black mark on the shins of the fore legs, like 
the European wolf. Our representation is taken from well- 
preserved specimens in the Philadelphia Museum, obtained 
by Mr. T. R. Peale, whilst attached to the Expedition to 
the Rocky Mountains, under the command of Major Long. 
The Prairie Wolf is about three feet and a half in length, 
including the tail, which is about one foot. The ears are 
four inches in height from the top of the head. The extre- 
mity of the trunk of the tail, reaches the projection of the 
os calcis, when the leg is extended. They bear so strong 
a resemblance to the domestic dog, so common in the In- 
dian villages, that Mr. Say is of opinion they are the ori- 
ginal stock from whence the latter is derived. Their 
bark also is very similar to that of the dog; in fact the first 
two or three notes cannot be distinguished from those of a 
small terrier, but these are succeeded by a prolonged yell. 
It was from this peculiarity of barking, that Mr. Say be- 
stowed the specific name of latrans on this animal. This 
species does not diffuse the offensive odour, so remarkable 
in most of the other species, particularly the nubilus (Say. ) 
The Prairie Wolves occur in great numbers in the great 
western plains, uniting like their brethren the jackals, in 
packs for the purpose of hunting deer, which they fre- 
quently succeed in running down and killing, particularly 
in a hard winter when a crust forms on the snow. It is 
also said, that they will drive these animals into a lake and 
remain concealed in the vicinity, watching till the exhausted 
deer return, and fall an easy prey to their insatiate pursuers. 
This is the more probable, as it is well known that some of 
the other species of American wolves practice equally inge- 
nious stratagems to entrap animals of superior speed. Cap- 
