The record-union., 1899-07-10

erstitious ones among the shepherds,
| the Mexicans and old country men in
particular disliked these visits from
dog wolves exceedingly looking on
them as meaning some misfortune to
themselves. This idea was strengthen
ed by what happened in the case of
a shepherd on ranch fifty miles south
of the Republican River He was a
raw Scandinavian lad, new to the busi-
ness 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 ex,
haustion. He could give no account OF
his wanderings except that In trying TO
catch what he took to be yellow doS
that approached him on the plain ha
had lost sight of his sheep and had pe-
come lost himself. BY what he said
| it was inferred that the creature nao
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 thS
devil-wolf's litter.
I'm another case the dog-wofVes
showed a strategy such as one would
| aItrlDuI6 10 uuIlldH lCccOh AIehSA sfAN'>
brute instinct A shepherd herding his
| flock was approached by one OF THESE
dog wolves, who put on every appear
ance of a romping dog BY men herd
ing on the lonely plains any companion
ship is welcomed and the shepherd. In
hopes of securing a 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
|fiock it was to find that in his absence
| it had been raided by the rest OF the
pack of dog-wolves who had killed or
| disabled more than twenty-five sheep,
and now were waiting few hundred
yards away for him to go from the
place before beginning their feast.
| although they were hunted and shot
at, and, in fact, passed their lives In u
perpetual state of>defense against the
plots of man, these dog wolves always
preserved a certain Difference toward
everything in the human form. a
/ thrilling instance of this was afforded
at ranch about forty miles north
| east of the Rush Creek ranch. Inc
| owners family were staying at the
] home ranch in the summer, and one
| day the negro nursemaid strolled out
| on the prairie, wheeling in a baby car
riage the child in her charge, girl
| Is months old. Leaving the child
asleep in the carriage, in the shade OF
a cottonwood tree by a streamlet, the
maid. engaged in conversation with
shepherd, wandered some distance
! away. Suddenly recollecting her
charge, she looked toward the car
riage to see that half dozen tawny,
wolfish-looking animals had appeared
| out of side gulch and were approach
ling it. The girl would have run to the
rescue of the child, but the herdsman,
afraid, held her back. The dog wolves
circled round the carriage, surround
/ ing it, and some came close to the
sleeping child. shifting curiously az
her, but not offering to molest her.
The girl at last broke from the herds
man and rushed toward the carriage:
The dog-wolves at first seemed too
much absorbed in their Investigations
of the child and carriage to notice her
approach, but at the sound OF her
screams they lifted their heads, looked
at her a few moments and then can't
cred away back to the gulch, leaving
I
.These dog wolves, though often
seen separately, were believed always
! to have a common rendezvous and to
| hunt together. For months or even a
year at a time they would disappear
from one locality to appear at another.
but their operations, as far as known.
were always confined to tract little
more than 100 miles square. They
| xx,tt
was believed that they would not per-
nit wolves to remain in any trace
where they ranged There is no evi-
dence that they ever propagated their
species Their calls to one another
were a howl somewhat modified from
| that of a wolf, and yelping note
! suggesting the barking of dog.
| "After my first experience which
have narrated 1 twice saw dog-woives
| in the Rush Creek country. Once two
] of them appeared from some hidlng
place on the prairie to one. side Of the
! trail in which I was riding, watched
me as I passed, and followed me ior
about two miles. On the other occa-
! sion saw the full pack, then reduced
| to flye in number, galloping along the
! side of a prairie swell mile away
They were in full sight for perhaps
five minutes, and then disappeared
round a turn in the hill. Two of the
original pack had been killed at that
| time-one shot at long range by an
antelope hunter and it's skin sold to
| tourist during the stopping of train
at the railway station at River Bend;
! the other, wounded by bullet, mad
dragged itself beyond the reach of the
| hunter who shot it and was never
| found. !.
! mot the least remarkable thing In
| the history Of this strange hybrid pack
was the manner in which they came
to an end An inheritance probably
from their collie strain Of ancestry.
| they had an inordinate liking for milk.
and. would take great risks to OBTAIN
| it. This in the lambing season on
! the ranches made them particularly
destructive, for they would bite the
| udders. from sheep, and would tear
!, open the unweaned lambs In order, 70
| drink the milk that their stomachs
| contained A man owning httie
ranch on a tributary OF the Republican
| River, who had suffered from their
rayages, hit on a plan for revenge.
He, had several milch cows at his
place. and he baited trap for the
| doe-wolves for weeks with a tin pan
| of milk, set In the ground SO that 1t
could not be easily upset. He filled
the pan daily, and when he found that
| they were visiting 1t regularly he put
dose Of strychnine in 1t one day.
l. -