THE WOLF DENS, No. 22.
At the northeastern corner of the Elk Range there is a huge, bare granite rock, two hundred feet long, shaped precisely like the hump of a bull buffalo. The high end of the hump is toward the north, and its crest is about fifteen feet above the ground on its eastern side. A fringe of small trees and bushes grows along its western side. On the east side, well sheltered by the rock itself from the cold west winds of winter, and also shaded by several fine trees which most opportunely grow close beside the ledge, the Wolf Dens and Fox Dens are situated.
In regard to the iron work, these dens are merely an understudy of the Bear Dens. The dimensions of each den of the series are 16 by 48 feet, and the height of the bars to the top of the overhang is 9 feet 6 inches. The sleeping dens are of simple construction, all save one being of wood, trimmed with bark-covered slabs. At present the Wolf Dens are divided into four compartments.
The Gray Wolf, (Canis nubilis), is known by as many names as it has color phases. In the North, where it is white, it is called the “White Wolf,” while in Florida it becomes the “Black Wolf.” In British Columbia and around Great Slave Lake, both white and black wolves abound, as well as the standard gray, but on the Barren Grounds the white phase predominates. In Texas a “Red Wolf” is found, but apparently the red phase is of somewhat rare occurrence, and is never found in the North.
In the West this animal has recently come into prominence in a way that is striking terror to the hearts of ranchmen and others who have stock to lose. While all kinds of desirable game animals are decreasing at an alarming rate, the Gray Wolf not only holds its own, but is multiplying rapidly. The destruction by it of calves, colts and sheep, has become so great that nearly every western State has placed on the head of this bold marauder a bounty varying from $2 to $10. In some States this law has been in force for several years, but with no sensible diminution in the number of wolves.
TIMBER WOLF.
The Gray Wolves which live in touch with civilization are by no means such bold and dangerous animals as they formerly were. In the early days, when wolves were numerous and fire-arms few and primitive, the Gray Wolf undoubtedly was a dangerous animal. But the breech-loading rifle has changed all this. Excepting for his stock-killing propensities, the Gray Wolf is now a skulking creature. In the United States this animal possesses the courage of a coyote, but in the Barren Grounds it is still fierce and dangerous. However much the wolf may skulk and flee when the way is open, when brought to bay he knows how to fight. One snap of his powerful jaws and shear-like teeth is enough to disable almost any dog, and send it howling to the rear. It is no wonder that western dogs of experience are shy of approaching a Gray Wolf within snapping distance.
Excepting the localities from which it has been driven out by civilization, the Gray Wolf ranges over the whole North American continent from central Mexico to 83° 24′ N.
The Coyote, or Prairie Wolf, (Canis latrans), is a personal acquaintance of nearly every trans-continental traveler. To those who have camped on the “plains,” he is quite like an old friend; and the high-pitched, staccato cry—half howl and half bark—with which he announces the dawn, is associated with memories of vast stretches of open country, magnificent distances, sage-brush and freedom. Because of his fondness of barking, Thomas Say, the naturalist who first described this species, christened it, Canis latrans, which means “barking wolf.”
COYOTE: PRAIRIE WOLF.
This animal averages about one-third smaller than the gray wolf, and while the finest male specimens are, in the autumn, really handsome animals, at other times the majority are of very ordinary appearance. At no time, however, even in the dark, is a Coyote a courageous animal. So far as man is concerned, a band of a thousand coyotes would be as easily put to flight as one; but in hanging upon the ragged edges of civilization, and living by its wits, the Coyote is audacity itself. By inheritance, and also by personal experience, this animal knows to a rod how far it is safe to trust a man with a gun. If the hunter has left his gun behind him, the Coyote knows it at once, and boldly flaunts himself within stone’s throw of his enemy.
The Coyote varies in color quite markedly, exhibiting the gray, brown and black phases. Formerly it was supposed that one species comprehended all, but Dr. Merriam’s series of specimens from all parts of the West and Southwest have led him to separate these animals into eleven species.