The other fox, an old female, proved vicious and intractable. Despite kind treatment, every effort to handle her resulted in serious bites. She was kept chained, but made such frequent and violent shows of anger, at times bordering on madness, as compelled us to kill her. She never showed any signs of fear, and neglected no effort to free herself. She was confined in a lean-to, at the door of which the Eskimo dogs gathered for their daily food. Whenever a dog was in sight, Miss Fox put on a bold front, showed her teeth threateningly, and emitted a series of low growls, somewhat of a modification of the shrill barks the fox usually indulges in. Several of the half-grown dogs rushed in on her, one at a time and on different occasions, but the fox met the attacks with such courage that the puppies retreated, one of them howling dismally at his wounded muzzle, in which the fox had deeply inserted her sharp teeth. The tame fox broke his chain and made a burrow in the snow wall that surrounded the house. As daylight was then continuous, and there were about thirty dogs around the quarters, it was thought that the fox would fear to attempt an escape. After ten days, however, he took the chances, and successfully ran the gauntlet of Eskimo dogs.
Doubtless the female fox has the hardest life, her energies being severely taxed in caring for her young. She is always in poorer flesh than the male, and as a rule she is much more vicious, and less amenable to kindly treatment.
An instance of the endurance and possibly the craft of the arctic fox may be cited in the experience of Biederbick, one of our expedition, who put a bullet through a fox and apparently killed him. Failing to reload his gun, the expectant hunter went forward to pick up his prey. To his great astonishment and chagrin, as he neared the wounded animal the fox, lamed and bleeding, sprang up and ran off at such a pace that he escaped.
It may be added that the arctic fox, while noted for his courage and endurance, is not skilled against traps or pitfalls, but shows a proneness to be caught that borders at times on stupidity.
THE ARCTIC WOLF.
The white-skinned, large-limbed wolf is the most ravenous, untiring, and dangerous of all arctic animals. Its tireless gallop, sharp teeth, snappish bites, and powers of a concerted action with its own kind make it possible for this predacious animal to live wherever game of any considerable size is to be found. In Grinnell Land he subsists almost entirely on the musk-oxen, who find their only safety by travelling in bands. When attacked they form a circle, and placing their calves and feeble members in the centre, by opposing horns and desperate bellowings stand off the encircling wolves. Woe, however, to the straggling ox who falls in with wolves, for he never escapes.
In his widely read narrative, Kane most unjustly disparages the strength and prowess of the arctic wolf. He says: "The Eskimo dogs of Smith Sound encounter the wolf fearlessly and with success." There is absolutely no foundation for this statement. Kane never saw a wolf either in southern Greenland or in the Smith Sound region, for this animal is unknown in Greenland, save one drifted from the American coast and killed at Omenak in the winter of 1868-9.
In truth the arctic wolf is relatively the strongest, as he is in fact the most courageous and enduring of arctic animals, and these qualities are supplemented by unusual craft and caution. They average some twenty pounds greater weight than the dog, which animal views their appearance with terror, realizing his small chance of safety in an encounter. The single wolf tempers his desperate courage with caution, and so rarely attacks man. Indeed, he uses such good judgment that there are not half a dozen instances in the annals of arctic expeditions where the hunter, matching his wits and efforts against those of the beast, has succeeded in shooting a wolf. When wolves assemble in packs they seem to act without any fear of consequences whenever the community interests of the pack demand it. They seem to realize that by concerted action the pack is bound to prevail, and they accept the chances of death very much the same as a soldier does when sharing the dangers of a victorious charge.
The British expedition of 1875 to Grinnell Land saw several wolves following a herd of musk-oxen, on which the wolves of that region subsist. Despite repeated efforts the sportsmen could not get within three or four hundred yards of these very wary animals. Later a single wolf followed Colonel Feilden's sledge for several days, but such was the cunning displayed by the beast that all efforts to get a shot at him failed. Very greatly to our surprise, in September, 1881, a large band of wolves appeared on the harbor floe near our house at Lady Franklin Bay. They were eighteen in number, and while they showed no signs of timidity, yet their discretion was such that none of our many expert hunters were able to get within gunshot. While this wariness is in keeping with the general habits of the arctic wolf, which has been rarely killed by sportsmen, yet it seems surprising when we reflect that these wolves could never have been hunted, and doubtless had never seen any animal, save the polar bear, which could injure them.