The sun., 1903-01-18
FIERCE WOLVES or MONTANA
BUT LESS DANGEROUS THAN
SOME OTHERS TO MAN.


Hounds the Hest for Hunting Them.
From the Anaconda Stondard.
The Montana wolf. eanis oecIdentdhs,
OF the species cons iupas OF which the coyote.
or cdnis Lovtrons. Ia also q subdivision Is
the largest and most ferocious Of tho wolf
species Although on account OF his pc
culiar habits. he Is the least dangerous 10
man. he is more devast ating to hocks and
herds than any other kind Of wolf. Except In
the ruttng and breeding periods the wolves
OF Asia and Europe. m well ~ the timber
wolves OF this continent. congregate In packs
especially when pressed by hunger. and with
the added courage and ferocity that como
from the large numbers being together.
they will attack man and beast. Old trappers
and hunters however. who have known tho
Montana wolf for many years. tell me that
they have never gathered themselves In
packs. even In the coldest winters.
Sometimes the male and female will unite
In an attack. but more often the dog wolf
does the killing. which, owing TO bis size.
he IL we'll able to accomplish. While the
wolf OF this section IL more choice than he
might be were game less plenty. at the
same time he does. contrary to what Is gen
orally belle we'd. feed upon dead bodies that
he fnds on the prairie. The dog wolf ~
very large. sometimes measuring nearly
eight feet from tip to tip. His teeth are long
and sharp. and the long hair upon his body
makes II almost impossible for an ordinary
dog to infiict any injury upon MIN uniess
the attack u made in the flank.
Last fall W. y. Grifffth, the Sheriff OF valley
county who owns one Of the best packs OF
wolf hounds in the State. went out driving
with Mrs Griflth. and seven Of the dogs
followed the buggy. Two were mere pups.
and one was an untried greyhound. so that
the fighting force was really four tolerably
ll~ lNsx ttIT fsGd
upon a large gray wolf. and soon brought him
to bay upon the open prairie. They made
concerted attack upon him and fought nercey
until Mr.. arifIith drove up to them As he was
unarned, and there were no stones upon the
prairie he tried to assist the dogs with mis-
whip. The fght was finally reduced to two
combatants, the wolf and the strongest dog.
The other dogs had been put out Of the game
by being liter ally picked up and thrown over
the VOLTS head. Although tired and almost
worn out, the wolf made dash at his single
adversary, and rushing him up against the
wheels of the buggy. nearly killed him. Then
he started Of on leisurely trot over the hill.
MIR Griffith who has killed scores OF them.
said that he was the biggest wolf he ever
saw, being nearly as tall as the front wheel
of the buggy. but he said that he was old
and his teeth we're dull. otherwise he would
have killed all Of the dogs.
AnOtneT line puCh VI uoB' ~ '"'ON ~
Arthur Broadwater Of Havre and with these.
some Of which were imported from the Cars
Kennels. and were formerly owned by the
Tenth Cavalry. Mr.. B-oadw ater has made
a large income from the bounty on the D 'oes
of tho HoIve and coyotes that he has killed
in the chase. He says that the only sue
cessful dog to deal with the gray wolf. which
il not a speedy snimal. is the Russian stag
hound. .,,, md ,re ,cro.
cio,is lighters. but the reason why they excel
so much is that they exercise great deal OF
ssenS n,Sars rush the quarry and snSp At he
Ganks' MIR Broad water will not allow the
SonnSSs OS .2sns the shs GS.s Ssss sss
danger % the the .dSFs tie usually rides In
weat pGrTf S%fIsloes. e Which were left. and aban-
Some some extent. upon deer and antelope when 1
sssy ass of'e or other pS dissbiiity The 6unsoe;,
however. were thei5 & CHIEF sonrSe Ss OF fnSnd .SSSd
when it was accompanied by the mother GOV,
The great herds too. were conttantY asoP-
oPd iss ,sf;s ssao Se xc has naturally
.nson e sSsb Sss III. snssp
The Nocks and herds in the past twenty years
this i est%a,ca ssnss sSua sh. eses Vol
will require about three two-year-oin stceIs :
their equivalent in yeSr baHs been ene
ties that are offered While the sneskinG
coyote is much smai,er , anH ,ess nest. "s he
breeds faster and Ia more alert LOT curves
and stray sheep. a..
wolf Is that he win often approach man
| on the prairie without apparent rear oufn
thing happened x,t5 e me ,,iena Tnf ayx We we're
when a lare gray wolf came up within hun. NJ ,.
%Ss tsst ps..d Of Si hm n. aad e. Chen ~
| for a quarter Of mile. trctssng along peh,nd d
the bnsry Ike doE whsT .soussd we ss9pR;Hn R;m
mildly mi s interested in US. Finally he disappeared
oyer h and only cast "ais H'e
have often heard others tell OF similar ex-
periences. and no one seems 70 pe ao,s ns 20 20
b" Int ~ou SowSoy bow near Fort Benton shot one last
fall under similar circunstanses l ,'iisr wonHisr :
| II Seton II thompson knows OF this peouuar
For the past ten years trappers have been
sess sG kiins The eVSH coyote and the often
| clearing from $4,000 to 5000 ior the Mm,- MN
| A. 600 from the fall to July last year
| Poisoning has been almost entirely aDan-
doned as the little beasts are. asen OLD trappei
| told me. "on to II /" Traps set in sand
near the dens and around halt are often sue
cessfui many are shot. hut the great majority
| are killed In June while young pups; "a.
| The hunter locates the den. and then HMn
spade and pick diaS to the end. often nndine
/ as many as six or eight pups, As thesr orins
As apiece he Ia woll re ewarded An OLD trap-
| isar near here who hunted last winter ~
/ the rough brakes Of Arrow Creek cauehii
| several hundred by means Of well-traineo
| sheep dog which he has taught to 20 into
| the don and bring out the pups. Anoshe,I
| peculiar thing about the wolf u that Il
| unknown for a mother to hght for her pups
! Wolves and coyotes alike will desert the Gen a
| and keep out Of sight and range whfe 'he
| young ones are being dug out.
dog wolf that has his den in the brakes Of
| the Missouri River near the mouth ol tne
| Hieh wood. and Il Is reported that he has
at times Killed full-Rro wn horses and steers
| n such is the case II must be extremely rare
or else the. victims were weakened from age
| or lack OF food
The present bounty of Is for these De.
| structive pests il small enough. ana II y
! could be arranged that an interstate ald
| international bounty OF 81, or even go. C0ulc
| be offered. the country would be rtd o. tnen
! in a few wears II would be Impossible tol
| any one State to do this. for the re4son thal
| hunters from other States and Canada woule
, bring the hides in to claim the bounty
! the Canadian and United st ates Government'
|, could unite and Offer the tcn-dollar bounty
! Il would soon stop the eXistencc oi tho coyot.