Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-08-23
A MEXICAN WoLF-HuNr.
Description sf One Witnessed i'm the Up-
 lands of Chihuahuo.

Mexico and our southern border States still harbor three species of the genus lupus: The black wolf, the coyote or prairie wolf, and the gray wolf (canis occtdentalis)- the last the most mischievous, and with a single exception of the grizzly bear, the boldest predatory quadruped of the North American continent, writes Felix D. Os- wald in the New York Mail and Express. Wolves, surprised in the act of disembowel- ing dead horse, have been known to at tack meddlesome dog and tear him limb from limb, and then, as if encouraged by their success, make headlong charge upon a mounted Eunter, and, in spite of repeated pistol shots, pursue him for distance of several miles.
 A "hue and cryn is phrase often ap- piled to the petty stop-thief sensations of our modern cities, but he that would know the original significance of the term should see the effects of wolf-alarm in the up- lands of Chihuahua. The restless vigilance of the mounted herders has gradually driven the wolf population to the fastness of the alturas, or rugged highlands, where caverns and thickets of myrtle and cedar shrubs offer then vantage ground. In stress of famine however, the fierce high landers now and then sally in force, and, by avoiding all beaten roads, occasionally suc- ceed in raiding the pastures of a lonely rancho and effecting their retreat to the | summit regions of ths Sierras.
 The experienced leaders of such expedi- tions are not apt to tarry on a scene of car mage, well knowing that the shelter of night alone can revert retribution if his re- treat should be interrupted. At the first sound of the trompddd, or alarming trum- pet, the farmer leaves his blow and the miner his pan, dogs are unclaimed horses | saddled in wild haste, and, five minutes | later, dust-clouds sweeping across the vega as if on the wings of the storm, announce the arrival of rescuing parties from far and near. There is no time to be lost. The baf1ed marauders are flying for the Sierra, and by an unsparing use of spur and whip may be overtaken, headed off, perhaps, and possibly caught in tEe coils of a rodes or circle hunt-a sport the wild hunters would | not exchange for the spectacle of the finest bull fight in Spanish America. Forward, hounds and racers ahead through bush and bramble, guided by the bugle signal of the anguard-joining the direct pursuit or taking advantage of bee-line trail to gain | the uplands ahead of the fugitives, and turn their flight by a flank charge.
 The wolves keep well together, fully ! aware that stragglers will be instantly l cornered; another mile and the thickets are | gained; but left and right the hillsides al- ready chatter under the hoofs of galloping horses, the fatal trompdda rings out it's sig nal blasts mingled with even louder cheers, and the running fight with legion of yelp- | ing CUTS presently becomes a general melee, She 0al0os, the fierce bloodhounds of the bor- der-ranchos, have forged ahead, and cheered by the yells of the hunters at once rush into the thick of the flying outlaws. For a moment the terrible snap bites of the ma rauders prevail; the aggressors recon, but | the victory has been purchased at the price of perilous delay; the racers have passed the foothills, and horn signals already blare from the gates of the mountain passes; the remaining hopes of escape are measured by minutes. The gdl0os again rush iin; but in the midst of the confusion a veteran wolf is seen standing firm, scaGning the rocks ahead with the eye of an expert campaigner, evidently resolved to keep his wits ready and utilize every possible chance of salva- tion.
 But that chance is soon reduced to prob- lem of battle-tactics. The confusion of the second charge has involved the loss of an additional minute, and that minute has de- cided the fortune of the day Reinforce ments of bloodhounds charge bowling up the glen, whirl of galloping hoofs sends down shower of pebbles from the flank of a lateral ridge, and a new detachment of hunters storms ahead to complete the block ade of the dlturds.
 Every gdJ0o of the uplands will soon be on the ground, even if his owner should have to recall him from the view halo chase of a deer hunt Near the little mining hamlet of San Rafael once visited the camp of a railway surveyor, when the echo of 8 trompddG sent our Mexicans a flying in all directions, and few minutes after the first bevy of hunters a strange team came thun- dering down the road-a horse, two mules and a two-wheeled cart containing a hunter and grizzly old galgo. The dog was still sore from the scars of a recent prize fight, and had one of his legs band aged; but rather than incur the odium of shirking the rally, his owner had decided to fetch him out in cart, and in spite of his wounds the old fighter stood bolt upright, answering the cheers of the villagers with deep-mouthed bark.
 A dozen such champions can be warrant ed to save the expense of gunpowder, even in wolf-hunt. In the first heat of the pur- suit, and when the plurality of his allies are still far behind, they often outstrip the Aorses and strain every nerve to accom- plish the main purpose of interrupting the fugitives but in pitched battle they can appreciate the advantage of cooperative tactics. Two and two, or in larger packs, they keep close together, and while the mounted hunters charge in with clubs of hackberry wood, their canine allies pick of blockade-runners till the reduction of the hostile force warrants signal for general assault. That slgnal tests the power of the leaders, for the wolves now close their ranks, and the valor of their veterans seems to increase with the hopelessness of their plight, and even the last survlvors perish in selling their lives as dearlS as possible. Drip ping with blood and the foam of their say age snap-bites, they stand bristling at bay, grimly determined to resist their aggressors to the very last.
 She-wolves, however, somewhat lack that stoicism, and in view of inevitable death are apt to lift their heads and wake the echoes of the dIttIrds with a wierd farewell howl addressed, perhaps, to the memory of theil starving whelps in the caverns of the dis tant Sierra.
 Snake-Proof Foot-Wear.
 ln the lumber districts of Northern and Western Minnesota loggers and woodchop pers are often bitten by copperheads and rattlesnakes, and whenever the person bit ten is unable to get whisky to drink it goes