GRAY WOLF AND COYOTE 
23 
it has learned to fear the deadly rifle, the poison 
pot, and the trap. Storms, cold and fatigue af- 
fect it but little, and its powerful teeth, strong 
jaws and wide gape enable it to bite with great 
cutting power. In fighting with dogs, every 
well-aimed snap means either a deep wound or 
a piece of flesh bitten out. 
The type of this species is a strong, robust ani- 
mal, cunning and merciless. Its winter coat is 
long, shaggy and coarse-haired. Its standard 
color is mixed black and white, but it varies 
greatly, and unaccountably. In Florida it is 
often black, in Texas reddish brown, and in the 
far North it varies from black to white. Al- 
though in some localities it is called the Timber 
Wolf, it is equally at home on the treeless prairies 
of the West, in the dark, evergreen forests of 
British Columbia, and on the desolate barren 
grounds of Arctic America. 
Although once very abundant on the great 
plains, the coming of the cattle ranch and sheep- 
herder provoked against the Gray Wolf and 
coyote a relentless war of extermination, which 
still is being waged. Several states in the cat- 
tle country of the great plains offer cash boun- 
ties on wolf scalps ranging from $2 to $10, and 
large sums of money have been paid out for 
them. In Montana the number of wolves has 
so greatly diminished that in the course of a 
month in the saddle in 1901, in wild country, no 
Gray Wolves were seen, and only four coyotes. 
Wolves have now become so scarce that the oc- 
cupation of the professional “wolfer” is almost 
gone. 
Nevertheless, even on the cattle plains, the 
Gray Wolf is very far from being extinct; and 
as long as the “ bad-lands ” remain, with their 
thousands of wash-out holes, and tens of thou- 
sands of rabbits, the gray marauder will remain. 
In the far North, above the Arctic Circle, and in 
the land of the musk-ox, in 1899, Mr. C. J. Jones 
and his companion were so beset by packs of 
huge and fierce White Wolves, seeking to devour 
their five living musk-ox calves, that for over 
forty-eight hours they fought them continuously 
at short range, killing a wolf at every shot. 
The young of the Gray Wolf are usually five 
in number, and are born early in May. At first 
they are of a sooty brown color, and are dis- 
tinguishable from coyote puppies by the large 
size of the head. One which was examined 
when four days old measured 91 + 3 inches, 
and weighed 16 ounces. When twenty days old, 
it was 15 + 4 inches, and weighed 4 b pounds. 
The cry of the Gray Wolf is a prolonged, deep- 
chested howl, corresponding with B-Hat below 
middle C, not broken into a bark, like the cry of 
the coyote. When seen at home, the Gray 
Wolf can readily be distinguished from the coy- 
ote, even at a distance, by the way it carries 
its tail, — pointing above the horizon. 
Gray Wolves hunt in packs, often in relays, 
and successfully pull down deer, antelope, and 
wounded animals of all sizes. In the cattle 
country their specialty is the destruction of 
calves and colts. Except in the far North, they 
know well what firearms are, and are very care- 
ful to keep out of rifle-shot. 
N. Y. Zoological Park. 
COYOTE. 
To-day the range of the Gray Wolf embraces 
the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountain re- 
gion from Mexico to the northern limit of land. 
Lockwood and Brainard found tracks of a Gray 
Wolf at Latitude 83° 24'. In Alaska, animals 
of this species grow larger than in the United 
States, and frequently are white instead of gray. 
A fairly large Gray Wolf is 48J + 15 \ inches long, 
stands 26 inches high at the shoulders, and has a 
girth measurement of 29^ inches. (L. L. Dyche.) 
The Coyote, or Prairie Wolf , 1 is about one- 
third smaller than the gray wolf, but in form 
and color the two species look very much alike. 
It carries its tail low — humbly — as befits a cow- 
1 Ca'nis la'trans, and related forms. 
