Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1859-07-09

whom have recently formed q passing &C
qnninlance.
The Prairie Wolf was The irst Of these
gentry to pay his RESPECTS 10 us. He is q
sneaking, cowatdly little wretch, Of dull
or dirty white color, much resembling a
small short-bodied dog set up on pretty
long legs. believe bis only feat emitting
him TO rank ms beast of prey consists in
fometimes, when bard pressed by hunger,
digging out a prarie-dog and making a
meal Of him. His usual proyender is the
carcass--no matter how putrid--of any
dead buffalo, mule or OK that he may end
exposed on the prairies. He is a paltry
creature
But the Gray Wolf--wbo Is also deui-
zen Of the prairies---(I think we have seen
at least dozen Of the species to-day )-is
scouudrcl Of a much more imposing cali.
Der. He likes tolurk around the outskirts
Of o herd Of Buffalo, keeping out Of sight
and unsupported in the ravines and creek
timber so far as possible and wo to the
nnlucky calf that strays (which he seldom
does) outside Of the exterior line of de-
feusc formed by the bnlls If very large
and hungry, the Gray Wolf will sometimes
manage TO cut COW off from the herd,
and, interposing between her and her com
panlons, detain or drive her further away,
until she is beyond the hope of rescue, when
her doom ia sealed His liveliest hope,
however, is that of finding buffalo whom
some hunter has wounded, so that he can
not keep up with the herd, especially should
il be stampeded. Let him once get such a
one by himself, and few snaps at his ham
strings taking excellent care to keep out of
the way of his horns, insures that the vic
tim will have ceased to be buffalo, aud be-
come mere woIfmeat before morning
1t is impossible for a stranger to the
praries to realize the impudence of these
prairie-lawyers. OF some twenty of them
that have seen within the last two days
think not six have really run from u.s.
One we saw just before rs two hours ago,
kept on his way across the prairie, stopping
occasionally to take good look at us, but
not hurrying himself 10 the least on our ac-
count, though for some minutes within good
rifle range. Once to-day, our division su
perintendent sent ball after one who was
making very deliberate time away from us,
hitting him in The quarter where the com
pliment should have expedited his motion
bnt il did not seem to have that effect 1t
is very common for these wolves to follow at
night man travelling the road on a mule,
not making any belligerent demonstrations,
but waiting for whatever may turn up
Sometimes the Express wagons have been
followed in this way, but / think that un-
usual But this creature is up to anything
wherein there is chance for game.
irio 10 fba of
these parts-friSky himself aud source of
merriment To Others. He dens on any dry |
grassy ground-usually on the dryest part |
of the high prairie--aud bis hole is super
fcially very large ant-hill, with the nee
esSary oriice in its center. On this ant-
bill sits the proprietor-often more than
one-a chunky little fellow, in size between !
gray squirrel aud rabbit-say about
half a woodchuck When we approach,
he raises the cry of danger-no bark at
all but something between the piping of a
frog on warm Spring evening, and the
noise made by very young puppy-then
drops into his hole, and is silent and invisi- |
BILE. The holes are not very regularly plac-
ed, but some thirty feet apart, and when
say that ] believe we have to-day passed
within sight of at least three square miles
of these holes, the reader can guess how
many of these animals must exist here, even
supposing that there is usually but one to
each hole. Judge that there cannot be
less than o 100 square miles of Prairie-Dog,
towns within the present Buffalo range
That the Praire-Dog and the Owl-of
a small, brown backed, white-bellied spe-
cies-do live harmoniously in the same hole,
/ know, for have seen it. presume the
Owl pays for his lodgings like gentleman,
probably by turning in some provisions
toward the supply Of the table. If so,
this is the most successful example Of In
dustrial and Household Association yet
furnished. That the Rattlesiake is ever
admitted as third partner, Indignantly
deny. No doubt he has been found in the
Prairie-Dog's home-it would be Just like
him to seek so cosy nest-but he doubt
less entered like true Border Ruffian, and |
contrived to make himself more free than
welcome. Politeness, Cor if you please) |
prudence, may have induced the rightful
owner to submit to joint tenancy at will |
the will of the tenant, not that of the |
rightful landlord-bat no consent was ever
given, unless under constraint of that po-
tent logic which the intruder carries at the
tip of bis tail
OF Antelope, have seen many, but not
so near at hand as / could wish. | defer
speaking of them in the hope of better
acquaintance.
A word now of the face of the country
For more than hundred miles back |
have seen DO stone, and think there is none,
except at G great depth Solomon's Fork,
where we left its vicinity, is now stream
two rods wide, running but four to six
inches of water over bed of pure sand.
at depth of some three or four hundred
feet below the high prairie level of the
country. / infer that there is no rock in
place for at least that depth. The subsoil
Of the prairies is generally a loomy clay
resting on a bed of sand. The violent
though not frequent rains Of this region
form sheets Of water, which rnsh down the
slopes into the water-courses, which they
rapidly swell into torrents. which, meeting