THE DESTRUCTIVE WOLF.
WOLF.
Wherever the Wolf is found it is especially dreaded by the owners of flocks and herds, and it is considered the most destructive quadruped met with in Europe. Both in their habits and their physical structure they are very closely related to the Dog. The sense of smell in the Wolf is very acute, but its speed is not great. It wearies out its victim by untiring perseverance and when in full chase it persistently follows the track of the fugitive.
The Wolf is found throughout the whole of Europe, excepting Great Britain and the neighboring islands, where it has been exterminated. It also inhabits the cold and temperate regions of Asia and America. In some natural excavation situated in the woods, the Wolf takes up its abode. From here it steals forth at night to prey upon all the weaker animal life.
Among the varieties of the Common Wolf, it is necessary to mention the Black Wolf, which inhabits the North of Europe, and the Black Wolves of the Himalayas; the Dusky Wolf and the Prairie Wolf, which lives in troops on the great plains of North America; the Red Wolf, which leads a solitary life on the pampas of La Plata and in Texas and Mexico; lastly, the Mexican Wolf or Coyotte, and the Java Wolf. In the glacial regions of the two continents, White Wolves are found.
Although our Domestic Dogs and Wolves in a wild state are deadly enemies, yet when Wolves are captured quite young and tamed, they often become quite friendly with the Dogs of the home, and they are even considered safe playmates of the children in some instances, although they are rather treacherous, and probably few mothers would consider them safe. Yet a lady mentioned by Mr. Lloyd in this “Scandinavian Adventures” tells of a pet Wolf which she found trustworthy. “This Wolf became so faithful and attached that when we took a walk about the estate, and he was with us, he would crouch beside us when we rested, and would not allow anyone to approach nearer than about twenty paces; for if they came closer he would growl and show his teeth. When I called him he would lick my hand, at the same time always keeping his eyes fastened on the intruder. He went about the house and in the kitchen in the same manner as a Dog, and was much attached to the children, whom he would lick and play with. This continued until he was five months old. He had his kennel in the lower yard near the gate, and in the winter-time when the peasants came with charcoal, he would leap on to the stone fence, where he would wag his tail and whine until they came up to him and patted him. At such times he was always desirous of searching their pockets, that he might ascertain if they had anything good to eat about them. The men became so accustomed to this that they used to amuse themselves by putting a piece of bread in their coat pockets to let him find it out, and he ate all that they gave him. Besides this, he ate three bowls of food daily. It was remarkable that our Dogs used to eat with him out of the same bowl, but if any strange animal attempted to share the food with him, he would soon show anger.”
“At one time,” says Mr. Lloyd, “I had serious thoughts of training a fine Wolf in my possession as a pointer, but was deterred, owing to the liking she exhibited for the neighbor’s pigs. She was chained in a little enclosure, just in front of my window, into which these animals, when the gate was left open, ordinarily found their way. The devices the Wolf employed to get them into her power were very amusing. When she saw a Pig in the vicinity of the kennel she, evidently with the purpose of putting him off his guard, would throw herself on her side or back, wag her tail most lovingly, and look innocence personified. And this amiable demeanor would continue until the grunter was beguiled within the length of her tether, when in the twinkling of an eye the prey was clutched.
“When the Wolf is hungry, everything is game that comes to his net. In the Gulf of Bothnia he often preys upon Seals. When that sea is frozen over, or partially so, as is generally the case soon after the turn of the year, he roams its icy surface in search of the young of the Gray Seal, which at that season breeds among the hummocks in great numbers; and finding this an easy way of procuring sustenance, he remains on the ice until it breaks up in the spring. It not unfrequently happens, however, that during storms large fields of ice, on which numbers of Wolves are congregated, break loose from the shore or the land-ice; in this case, as soon as the beasts perceive their danger, but see no possibility of escape, they rush to and fro, keeping up the while a most woeful howling, heard frequently at a great distance until they are swallowed up by the waves.”
The vision and hearing, but more particularly the sense of smell in the Wolf, are very fully developed. These faculties are of great service in enabling it to obtain food and avoid danger.
When suffering from hunger it loses all caution, and becomes a scourge to the farmers’ flocks and a source of danger even to Man. In broad daylight, under such circumstances, without being seen, it will draw near a flock of Sheep, eluding the vigilance of the dogs, it will dart forward, seize a victim that it has singled out, and bear it off with such velocity as often to defy pursuit. This exploit accomplished, it returns time after time to the scene of its previous success, until destroyed or driven from the neighborhood.
When it succeeds in obtaining entrance to a sheepfold, the havoc it commits is fearful, for it makes a general massacre among the inmates. The slaughter terminated, it carries away a victim for immediate use. It afterwards takes a second, third, and fourth, which it conceals in different places in the neighboring woods. Nor does it return to its retreat until daybreak, devoting the last moments to secreting its booty.
This craving for slaughter, preceding the act of hiding the carcasses, rather denotes foresight than ferocity; the Wolf is not, therefore, the monster of cruelty pictured by Buffon.
The Wolf often destroys Dogs, its most deadly enemy; and resorts to stratagem the better to accomplish its purpose. Should it see a Puppy about a farmyard, it approaches, and attracts attention by frisking and making all kinds of gambols to gain its confidence. When the youngster, seduced by these overtures, responds to them, and leaves the friendly shelter of its home, it is immediately overpowered, and carried off. Against a vigorous Dog, capable of defending itself with success, the stratagem is different. Two Wolves arrange between themselves the following plan:—One shows itself to the hoped-for-victim, and endeavors to make the Dog follow its track into an ambuscade, where the second Wolf is concealed. Both suddenly assail it at once, and through their combination obtain an easy victory.
Under ordinary circumstances the Wolf does not molest Man, but even flies from his presence. In cases of extreme hunger, on the contrary, it attacks him, looking out for an unguarded moment in order to take him unawares. If the Man is on horseback or accompanied by a Dog, its first efforts are directed against the quadrupeds.
During the winter, when the ground is covered with snow, in the great plains of Germany, in the vast steppes of Russia and Poland, Wolves are most dangerous. “Hunger drives the Wolf from the wood,” says a proverb. Allied in immense troops they range the country in every direction, and become a terrible scourge.
In those plains of Siberia that are infested by Wolves a sledge journey is far from agreeable, for frequently a band of these ferocious brutes persistently follow travelers. If the sledge stops for only a second, the Men and Horses are lost; safety exists only in flight. The struggle on such occasions is fearful. The Horses, mad with terror, seem to have wings. The Wolves follow on their track, their eyes flashing with fire. It is a terrible situation to be placed in to behold these black spectres tearing across the surface of the white shroud of snow, thirsting for your blood. From time to time a report is heard; a Wolf falls. More audacious than the others, the victim had tried to climb the sledge, and one of the travelers has shot it. This incident gives some advantage to the fugitives; for the carnivorous troop halt for a few seconds to devour the body of their companion.
Wolves are not hunted with Hounds that run by scent, for it would only be possible to overtake them with Greyhounds, as they are endowed with great speed and endurance. The method generally adopted for their destruction is to post the hunters around the covers which a Wolf frequents. These measures being taken, the grizzly marauder is started by Bloodhounds, specially trained for the purpose. The Wolf dashes past the sportsmen, either successfully running the gauntlet or getting shot.