. The American natural history : a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America . Natural history. GRAY WOLF AND COYOTE 23 it has learned to fear the deadly rifle, the poison pot, and the trap. Storms, cold and fatigue af- fect it but little, and its powerful teeth, strong jaws and wide gape enable it to bite with great cutting power. In fighting with dogs, every well-aimed snap means either a deep wound or a piece of flesh bitten out. The type of this species is a strong, robust ani- mal, cunning and merciless. Its winter coat is long, shaggy and coarse-haired. Its st
. The American natural history : a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America . Natural history. GRAY WOLF AND COYOTE 23 it has learned to fear the deadly rifle, the poison pot, and the trap. Storms, cold and fatigue af- fect it but little, and its powerful teeth, strong jaws and wide gape enable it to bite with great cutting power. In fighting with dogs, every well-aimed snap means either a deep wound or a piece of flesh bitten out. The type of this species is a strong, robust ani- mal, cunning and merciless. Its winter coat is long, shaggy and coarse-haired. Its standard color is mixed black and white, but it varies greatly, and unaccountably. In Florida it is often black, in Texas reddish brown, and in the far North it varies from black to white. Al- though in some localities it is called the Timber Wolf, it is equally at home on the treeless prairies of the West, in the dark, evergreen forests of British Columbia, and on the desolate barren grounds of Arctic America. Although once very abundant on the great plains, the coming of the cattle ranch and sheep- herder provoked against the Gray Wolf and coyote a relentless war of extermination, which still is being waged. Several states in the cat- tle country of the great plains offer cash boun- ties on wolf scalps ranging from $2 to $10, and large sums of money have been paid out for them. In Montana the number of wolves has so greatly diminished that in the course of a month in the saddle in 1901, in wild country, no Gray Wolves were seen, and only four coyotes. Wolves have now become so scarce that the oc- cupation of the professional "wolfer" is almost gone. Nevertheless, even on the cattle plains, the Gray Wolf is very far from being extinct; and as long as the " bad-lands " remain, with their thousands of wash-out holes, and tens of thou- sands of rabbits, the gray marauder will remain. In the far North, above the Arctic Circle, and in the land of the musk-ox, in 1
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