When hunting large game, wolves always go in bands, usually of three to five but often a larger number. They invariably kill animals by springing on from behind and hamstringing the victim. Small game is hunted by lone animals.
The great losses suffered by stockmen in the West led the Biological Survey, in connection with the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture, to make a special investigation, and later a general campaign against the wolves of the National Forests began. During the year 1907 a large number of wolves and coyotes were captured in and near the forest reserves: the number from the various states being as follows:
| STATE | WOLVES | COYOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Wyoming | 1,009 | 1,983 |
| Montana | 261 | 2.629 |
| Idaho | 14 | 3,881 |
| Washington | 10 | 675 |
| Colorado | 65 | 2,362 |
| Oklahoma | 3 | 15 |
| New Mexico | 232 | 544 |
| Arizona | 127 | 1,424 |
| Utah | 5,001 | |
| Nevada | 500 | |
| California | 224 | |
| Oregon | 2 | 3,290 |
| ------ | ------ | |
| Total | 1,723 | 22,528 |
Many of these animals were captured by the forest guards but in addition the government employed a number of expert trappers. On the Gila National Forest 36 wolves and 30 coyotes were killed by one forest guard, who sent the skulls to the Biological Survey for identification, as well as the skulls of 9 bears, 7 mountain lions, 17 bobcats, and 46 grey foxes. One den of 8 very young wolf pups was taken March 13. These statistics are from Circular 63, issued by the U. S. Department of Agriculture.
Wolves are great ramblers, traveling over a large section of country. Like almost all other animals of rambling habits, they have their regular routes of travel. By this, we mean they follow the same valleys, passes, water courses, etc., but when in pursuit of game they sometimes stray quite a long distance out of their course.
Track of the Grey Wolf, Compared With That of a Dog.
The track of the wolf resembles that of a dog, but is a trifle narrower in proportion to its length. The difference is in the two middle toes, which are somewhat longer on the wolf, however, the difference is so slight that it could easily pass unnoticed. When the wolf is running these toes are spread well apart. The length of step when the animal is walking will be from 18 to 24 inches, and the average footprint will measure about 2 3/4 or 3 inches in width by about 3 1/2 or 4 inches in length. Ernest Thompson Seton, the naturalist claims that he can judge with fair accuracy, the weight of a wolf by the size of the track. He allows twenty pounds for each inch in length, of the foot print.