JOHNSON — HABITS OF TIMBER WOLF 
15 
We followed in the rear and on its left flank. We had been gaining 
considerably and were not more than forty yards away. The wolf’s 
mouth was open and its tongue shghtly extended from its restless 
activity. At this moment it turned broadside and trotted out onto a 
little point of land ahead of us. The river is here about seventy-five 
feet wide but rather shallow, the main channel, which is about fifty 
feet across, having a depth of only about two and a half or three feet. 
Without a moment’s hesitation the wolf walked deliberately into the 
river and started swimming. My wife and I stuck our paddles in the 
bottom and held still, tingling with keenest expectations. Restraining 
ourselves until the wolf had nearly reached the middle of the channel 
we shoved ahead and with our best efforts at silence raced to overtake 
the beast before it should reach the opposite bank, our course lying at 
an angle of about forty-five degrees. 
We had come to within perhaps twenty-five feet of the animal and 
it was fast nearing the shallow water before it suddenly beheld the 
rapidly approaching canoe. Abruptly it ceased swimming and for a 
brief second glared flxedly at the strange sight; then it turned hurriedly 
about and started back towards the shore it had just left. Checking 
ourselves we set a diagonal course and with a few vigorous strokes 
brought up within six or eight feet of the wolf as it now crossed our 
bow in desperate exertions to reach the land. The little shot gun held 
true at this distance and both buck-shot entered the brain. The 
wolf’s head sank instantly at the report but its momentum was such 
that its body doubled up and turned almost completely over in the 
water. 
The wolf proved to be a young male, heavy-boned and in splendid 
condition. It measured 3 feet, 10 inches, including the tail which was 
13 inches long. We had no means for weighing but estimated the 
weight at about 35 pounds. When the stomach was opened it was 
found to be completely filled with hair and several pieces of hide 
of a moose. No other kind of food had apparently been devoured that 
morning, although the wolf was clearly beating for smaller prey when 
observed. The pieces of moose hide still had the hair flrmly attached 
but were evidently the dried parts of the skin of an animal that had 
been dead for some time. 
University, of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. 
