Читать книгу Wolf and Coyote Trapping: An Up-to-Date Wolf Hunter's Guide - A. R. Harding - Страница 8

Wolves den in the ground or rocks in natural dens if such can be found, but in case natural excavations are rare as in northern portions of the country, they appropriate and enlarge the homes of other animals. In the heavily timbered country they sometimes den in hollow logs.

The wolf is both cowardly and courageous, depending on circumstances. When found singly, and especially in daylight the animal is as much of a coward as any creature could possibly be, and especially does it fear man. But when suffering from the pangs of hunger and when traveling in bands as they usually do, they are bold, fierce and bloodthirsty creatures. In such cases they have been known to attack man.

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.