The National tribune., 1899-06-29

| flerceness and cunning exceeding these
traits in their mother. Instead of separat-
ing and going their different ways, as men,
bers of a woif litter commonly do on gain
ing their growth, tley'stayed together, and
the mother remaiEedi with them for two
years at least, when she disappeared for
good, no one ever Rrew when or how. She
had taught them heritricks, and with the
superior sagacity derived from the collie
strain they improved on her lessons.
Up to the time of the appearance OF the
dog-woives the Colorado sheepmen had
suffered but iittieiIlaBage from wild ami
mails. Wolves particularly had given the
shepherds camps q wide berth, and the low
rail fence around. a sheep corral was a
barrier that they Were,afraid to leap. The
devil-wolf's litter, while taking every pre-
caution against traps or ambush, would
invade the corrals and the very camps them
selves when they could safely do so. Thosa
who had seen them work said that they
always reconnoitered the ground before
making foray, and that one of their num-
ber acted as sentinel while the others slaugh-
tered sheep. Toward domestic dogs they
had a peculiar malice. Hounds that were
put after them they led on in chase until
they were well away from tine hunters, and
| then turning they tore them to pieces. 1t
was favOrite trick with them TO come near
the ranches of moonlight night TO entice
the shepherds dogs from the camps. Romp-
| ing, they would draw the sheepdog from
the camp and thinking them OF his own
species, he would join their gambols. By
degrees they would lead him further away,
and at last, when safe from interference,
they would fall upon the luckless stranger
| and tear him in pieces.
There were certain ways in which these
dog-wolves showed strongly the traits in
herited from the collie. One was the in
hood of humanity. While they were as
shy OF approach rs the widest wolves,
there was an attraction for them in man
that led them to follow the traveller at a safe
distance away such as | had observed in
my own experience. Strangers in the
was shy dog that was trailing their steps
and would go through the useless per-
formance of trying to cultivate his ac-
qualntance. One of these dog-wolves
would sometimes attach himself to a shep-
herd on the range for an entire day, follow
ing the wanderings of the sheep and watch
ing the process of herding with great in
terest The superstitious ones among the
shepherds, the Mexicans and old country
men in particular, disliked these visits from
dog-Woives exceedingly, looking on them
as meaning some misfortune to themselves
This idea was strengthened by what hap
pened in the case of shepherd on a ranch
80 miles south of the Rep blican River.
He was raw Scandinavian lad, new to the
business of herding, and he disappeared
one day after taking his flock out on the
range in the morning. A search was
made for him and he was found three days
later wandering delirious on the prairie,
nearly dead from thirst and exhaustion.
He could give no account of his wanderings
except that in trying to catch what he took
to be a yellow dog that approached him on
the plain he had lost sight of his sheep and
had become lost himself. BY what he said
it was inferred that the creature had been
his companion for the first day at least, and
it was not doubted among the ranchmen
that the visitor that so nearly caused his
death was one of the devil-wolf's litter.
in another case the dog-wolves showed
n strategy such as one would attribute to
human reason rather than brute instinct.
A she )herd, herding his flock. was ap-
proacaed by one of these dog-wolves, who
put on every appearance of a romping dog,
By men herding on the lonely plains any
companionship is welcomed, and the shep-
herd, in hopes of securing pet and helper,
was induced to follow the supposed dog over
the crest of ridge beyond the view of his
flock. His advances failed to bring him
any nearer the animal, and when at last he
returned to his flock it was 10 find that in his
absence it had been raided by the rest of the