Morris tribune., 1898-04-20
DOGS WITH FATAL EANGS.
Bands of Wild Cant%ca Which gorrorize
Arizona.

/
Bands of wild Canfnca Which gorrorixe
Arizona.
Ranging through that section Of
! the United States where New MeXi-
co and Arizona meet are bands of
wild animals whose bite is more to
be dreaded than that Of the cent?
ped and is as fatal us theayenom of
the rattlesnake. They are known as
the wild dogs of Arizona, and so
bold have they become that the resi-
dents round about the field of their
operations are organizing to hunt
them down.
These brutes form species by
themselves, and no natural history
tells of them. Their origin is not
positively known, but they are sup
posed to be a GROSS between a COM
bination of Siberian bloodhound and
bulldog stock and the large timber
wolf of Arizona The first of these
was taken into New Mexico by cat
tlemen resident there about Is years
Rgo.
It was not very long after that
when the first of the present species
of animals that is now creating so
much trouble was seen, and for a
time their depredatiOns were slight.
Timber wolves were not Overplenty
in Arizona, and, while occasionally
q sheep, colt, horse or steer would
be pulled down by the brutes, there
was no attempt to exterminate them
beyond taking a shot at one of the
aepredators whenever opportunity
offered.
In these days, however, their short
banks and long, dismal bowls or
coars, something like coyote howl
intensified many times, are becom-
ing altogether too familiar The
noise they make is fearsome indeed
far more so than the scream of
the panther or the howl of the
thoroughbred wolf. None has ever
been captured, and no one wants to
capture them, for their appearance
is very nearly as ugly as their bite.
A full grown animal of this sort will
weigh about 100 pounds and stands
from 21a to 3 feet high, They are
heaviest about the shoulders and
neck, have a round shaped head and
short, sharp ears.
The general color of their coats is
gray, but long blackish hairs come
struggling through, giving dis
agreeable appearance. Occasionally
one of them will be of a different
color still and perhaps of fairly good
appearance, but this is supposed to
result from the breeding in of do
nestle dogs, who have been known
to desert the ranches and join one of
these bands.
The cattle, calves, horses and colts
which meet death through these
animals are by no means killed by
them because food is needed, but die
from the effects of the bite, which in
every case produces symptoms ex-
actly similar to strychnine poison
ing! Benjamin Brown of Nutrioso,
A. T., has perhaps killed more of
these animals than any other per-
son, and he regards the task of hunt
ing them as dangerous in the ex-
IRENE. While they have never been
known to Wantonly attack a human
being, they will defend themselves
against one quick enough.
Mr.. Brown tells one instance
whore a calf belonging to Pollard
Pearson of Nutrioso was bitten by
one of these wolf dogs. The bite
was not a serious one, and the calf
fed to it's mother for protection.
The mother licked the wound, and |
in few moments the calf was ap-
parently all right again. Two days |
later the calf died with every symp-
tom of strychnine poisoning, and
the following day the mother met a
similar fate.-Philadelphia Press.