Told by a Ranch Fireside.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIV, Issue 280, 25 November 1893, Page 3 (Supplement)

Told by a Ranch Fireside.

Wolfisji Marauders.

Around my ranch the wolves molest full, grown animals bub seldom, and never, so far as I know, attack or threaten human beings. They often kill calves and colts, and in one or two rare instances I have known of their hamstringing and tearing t 0 D ieces cows and steers. Westward of the Rockies, however, from the great main divide of the continent to the coast-line of British Columbia, Washington and Oregon, the wolves are larger and fiercer. Our plains wolf ia usually called the buffalo wolf, and varies from grey to white in colour. Tho great timber wolf which haunts the deep forests of the northern Rockies and the coast ranges resembles ours in colour, bub has better, and on the whole darker, fur ;ib is a longer-legged, longer-toothed, more sinewy beasb. In winter the timber wolves become very bold, and then sometimes attack man. Whenever the snow is on the ground they become dangerous to the settlers' live stock. Sometimes singly, bub more often in twos or threes, they will boldly assail the largest horses or horned animal. Unlike the panther they rarely make their main attack at the throat, preferring to hamstring their prey and then tearoub the flanks and stomach. A settler in northern Idaho once told me of the damage a Bmall party of these great wolves inflicted on him, and the way in which he finally got rid of them. His littlo outlying»farm waa situated in the hearb of a greab pine and spruce forest well up in the mountains. There were some beaver meadows along the banks of the stream by which his log house stood, and

there were opsn glades in tho valleys and on the hillsides, while a stump-dotted clearing surrounded bis cabin. He had put up a log barn and farm-yard corral; and his live stock consisted of a horse, a mare with her colt, a yoke of oxen for ploughing his grain land, and a milch cow, together with four powerful dogs, accustomed to battle wibh wild beasbs. Early one winber the wolves made their firsb descent upon him. The milch cow had been left out to pick up her living in the woods duriug the daytime, as it was certain that she would return at night to her calf in the yard. On the day in question, however, she did not come back ; and early the nexb morning the settlor starbed out to look for hor, taking his dogs with him, A mile trom the house, in an open glade, the dogs suddenly struck the trail of some wild beasb of a dangerous kind, as was indicabed by bhe bristling of their hair and their low growling. This trail led up the mountain, bub bhe sebtler called his dogs away from ib and forced them to follow ib back bhe obher way uubil he came to a little glade, in which lay the remains of the cow. There the ground was very much torn up, and on the soft soil were the footprints of several huge timber wolves. Following their tracks where they lefb the cow the sebbler soon discovered that there were three of them. He came back that night and sat up in the clear, cold moonlight to get a shot at the marauders if they returned; but the cunning beasts circled around, got his wind and made off withoub giving him a chance ab bhem. No animal is more difficulb bo outwit than one of these great wolves. After this he carefully housed his stock at night and watched ib during bhe day, keeping even the dogs from wandering off into the forest. One clear, cold day he book oub his oxen to haul in some logs from a couple of miles up the mountain. On his second trip down some accident occurred which made it necessary for him to leave the yoke of steers hitched to a tree, and go back to the house for some tools. He had no idea that there was any danger in thus leaving bhe animals, for ib did nob occur bo him bhab the wolves would dare to make an assault in open daylight where he had been passing and repassing along the road. He went down to the cabin, got the axe and whatever tools were needed, and returned toward bhe oxen with one of his dogs frisking beside him. On nearing the place where the oxen had been left, the dog suddenly pricked up its ears and raced off ahead ot him. Stopping for a momenb to listen, he heard up the mounbain-side a crashing and struggling in the bushes and a savage growling and snarling, and instanbly knew bhat his poor steers had been attacked by the wolves. Shouting at the top of his voice, he ran up toward the place and soon heard the clamorous baying of the dog. On reaching a bend in the road he'saw before him a scene of destruction. The three wolves had come down the road and suddenly assailed the oxen, which yoked as they were to a heavy sledge, and in addition tied to a tree, were unable either to escape or to make any iesistance. The savage beasbs had overthrown them and torn them terribly, although in their frantic dying struggles the oxen had overturned the sledge and smashed many of the neighbouring saplings and small trees. V. hen bhe man came up, bhe bhree wolves were ravening on bhe warm flesh, while bhe dog, ab some disbance off, was baying and afraid bo come near bhem. The wolves ab first seemed inclined to resist bhe man's approach. His rifle had been lefb in bhe sledge, and was lying overturned in the snow some thirty feet from the wolves, so that he had only his axe. He advanced boward them, shouting and brandishing his weapon, and the dog, taking courage, went on slightly ahead of him. Two of the wolves slunk slowly off ; the third, a huge grey beast, stood with its forepaws on one of bhe oxen, glaring ab him and declining bo leave. . The settler came on to within ten yards and then skirted around bo where his rifle lay iv bhe snow, keeping a sharp lookoub on the wolf for fear it might jump on him. On picking up the rifle he found that the snow had caked in the lock, and for a moment or two he was busy putting ib in order. During this time tho great grey wolf wrenched the fore shoulder from bhe ox and brotbed off wibh it into the forest. The two others then slouched along the edge of the clearing to join their comrade : buc the settler was in time, by a quick shob, to bake partial vengeance by breaking the back of the rearmost of the three. The dog rushed forward and shook the dying beast and then, excited by.the blood, dashed into the forest after the two others. He had nob gone a hundred yards before bhe man beard him yell in -agony, and hurrying toward him bhrough bhe enow, found him lying wibh his bhroat and flanks cut open. Evidently as soon as bhe two wolves had gob out of rifle-shot they had burned savagely on bhe unfortunate dog and killed him. The settler, furious ab his loss and misfortune, instanbly wenb down to bhenearesb neighbour to borrow two large steel beartraps, which he intended to set by some bait. Three nights afterward one of his enemies bearded him on his vory threshold ; for as one of the dogs was walking from the barn over to tho house just after nightfall, a greab wolf suddenly galloped oub of the darkness, overthrew and throttled the dog in the twinkling of an eye, though ib was a large and strong beast, aud started to drag the animal into the bushes. The two remaining dogs, however, rushed forward to the rescue of their comrade, and as the man appeared at the same momenb, the wolf sullenly drew off into the thicket. Immediately the man set one of the iron traps by the body of the dead dog, and went back inbo his house. In an hour afterwards the wolf returned. The carcase had been left nob a hundred yards from bhe hub, and the spring of the trap and the savage growl of pain of the . wolf were both distincbly audible. Seizing a torch and his axe, the settler throw open the door and rushed out with his dogs, which raced ahead. As he ran up toward bhe brap a furious worrying and snarling bold him thab bhe brapped wolf was being throttled by the comrades of the dead dog. On reaching the scene of conflict the torch showed the wolf held firmly by one forepaw, and yet holding his own fairly well against the bwo powerful doge, both of which he had wounded. However, they had him fasb, one by the side of the neck and the other by tho flank, and the settler put an end to the conflict wibh his axe. . After this he believed he waa safe, as he did not suppose that the third wolf would linger around th 6 neighbourhood where the other two had been killed. For six weeks, indeed, he saw no sign of it. Then one day he came across the huge footprints of the robber in the snow, where it had been walking around and around the house. Again ib wenb off, and did nob come back unbil early in the spring. This wolf was, as Tie saw by bhe bracks, the largest of the three—probably the one which had stood on bhe body of bhe ox and defied him as he approached. The game had been driven by the snow from the neighbouring mountains, and evidently the brute was very hungry. One morning early the settler decided to go down the mountain, and accordingly saddled his horse. In putting on bhe bridle bhe horse for some reason book frighb ab bim, broke off, and ran away up the wood road. He followed it at once. After going half a mile he topped a slight I rise and saw the horse in a beaver meadow, 1 some six hundreds yards ahead. As he

saw ib be also noticed a great grey figure come galloping out of the spruce woodi through the snow toward the unfortunate animal. The horse saw his foe ab the same moment, and started down the road on a desperate run. But before he could get under way the wolf galloped alongside and seized it by the outstretched bock with such violence that the teeth met clean through the sinews, and the horse was brought down on his haunches. It gave a piercing whinny of despair, ana the wolf let go for a moment. But the instant the horse again attempted to Bbarb off it was seized by the other hock and completely hamstrung. Before the man_ could come up its flank was born open and its life was extinct. Nevertheless the Bottler drove off bhe wolf before ib had a chance to snatch more bhan a moubhful or two. He brought oub the mare and dragged bhe saddle horse down to his cabin, where he lefb it outside the door, inbending bo use ib as baib bhe following day. Thab same evening, however, bhe wolf, evidently maddened with hunger, visited the farmhouse. It was just dusk, and the mare and her colt were in the corral, when the great grey beasb crept up to the outside and leaped suddenly over the high stockade to get at the colt, which ran frantically towards the mare. As the wolf followed, the mare, wheeling around, lashed out with her hind legs and struck him squarely in the face* breaking his lower jaw. The scuffle had called oub the dogs, which rushed furiously to the rescue. The wolf turned and galloped towards the stockade, but, stunned by the mare's blow,, he missed his jump the first time and fell backward. As he rose one of the dogs seized him by the ham, He fought savagely, but with his broken 4 under jaw he could do littlo damage. When the settler, roused by tbe tumult, rushed in with his rifle, it was to find the lasb one of bhe bhree beasts which had done him so much damage dying under bhe fangs of the dogs. Theodore Roosevelt.