The Wolf is one of those animals whose appetite for animal food is very
strong. Nature has furnished him with various means for satisfying this
appetite, and yet though she has bestowed on him strength, cunning,
agility, and all the necessary requisites for discovering, pursuing,
seizing, and devouring his prey, he not unfrequently dies of hunger;
for man having become his declared enemy, and put a price upon his
head, he is obliged to take refuge in the forests, where the few wild
animals he can meet with escape him by the swiftness of their course,
and whom he cannot surprise in sufficient quantities to satisfy his
rapacity. He is naturally dull and cowardly, but becomes ingenious from
want, and courageous from necessity. When pressed with hunger he braves
danger; he attacks those animals which are under the protection of man,
particularly such as he can easily carry away, as lambs, kids, and
even small dogs; if he succeeds in these excursions, he often returns
to the charge, till being wounded and closely pursued by dogs and men,
he conceals himself during the day in his den, and only ventures out
at night, when he traverses the country, searches round the cottages,
kills such animals as have been left without, scratches up the earth
from under the barn-doors, enters with a barbarous ferocity, and
destroys every living thing within, before he begins to fix upon, and
carry off his prey. Should these sallies not succeed, he returns to the
forests and pursues with avidity any animal he can meet, nay, he will
even follow the track of large animals in hopes they may be seized and
destroyed by some other wolf, and that he may become a partaker of the
spoil. When his necessities are very urgent, he will face destruction;
he attacks women and children, and will sometimes dart upon men; in a
word, he becomes furious by his continual agitations, and ends his life
in madness.
The wolf both externally and internally, so nearly resembles the dog,
that he seems modelled upon the same plan; and yet if his form is
similar, his nature is totally different, and so unlike are they in
disposition, that no two animals can have a more perfect antipathy
to each other. A young dog shudders at the first sight of a wolf; and
even the scent of one, though new and unknown, is so repugnant to his
nature, that he will come trembling to his master for protection. A
powerful dog, who knows his own strength, testifies his animosity,
attacks him with courage, endeavours to put him to flight, and uses
every exertion to get rid of an object whose presence is hateful. They
never meet without its terminating in flight or death. If the wolf
proves strongest he tears and devours his prey; but the dog is more
generous and contents himself with victory; he does not even approve
the smell of the body of a dead enemy, but leaves him as food for the
ravens, or even other wolves; for they eat the carcasses of each other;
and if one wolf happens to be much wounded, a number of them will track
him by his blood and speedily dispatch him.
The dog, even in his wild state, is not cruel, he is easily tamed, and
continues firmly attached to his master. The young wolf may be tamed,
but never has any attachment. Nature in him is stronger than education;
he resumes, with age, his ferocious disposition, and returns as soon
as he can to his savage state. Dogs, even of the dullest kind, seek
other animals and are naturally disposed to accompany them; and by
instinct alone, without any education, they take to the care of flocks
and herds. The wolf, on the contrary, is the enemy of all society: he
does not associate even with those of his own species; when several are
seen together it is not to be considered as a peaceful society, but a
combination for war; their fierceness and loud howlings denote they
intend an attack on some large animal, as a stag, ox, or formidable
dog. The instant their military expedition is over, they separate,
and each returns in silence to his solitary retreat. There is not any
strong attachment between the males and females; they seek each other
but once a year, and then remain but a few days together. They always
couple in winter; several males will follow one female, and this
association is more bloody than the former, for they growl, fight, and
tear one another, and the majority will frequently kill him that has
been preferred by the female. It is usual for the she wolf to fly her
admirers a long time, and at last retire with the one she has chosen
when all the rest are asleep. The female does not continue in season
above twelve or fifteen days, the oldest are generally so first. The
males have no fixed time, but pass from one female to another from the
end of December to the end of February. The time of going with young
is about three months and a half, and young whelps are found from the
end of April till the beginning of July. This difference in the time
of gestation between the she-wolf, who goes above a hundred days, and
the bitch that does not exceed 60, proves that the wolf and dog differ
not more in their dispositions than in their temperament, particularly
in one of the chief functions of the animal economy; besides the wolf
lives longer than the dog, and the she-wolf breeds but once in the
year, while the bitch has two or three litters in the same period; for
these, together with the reasons we have adduced in the history of the
dog, the wolf and the dog cannot be considered as the same animal; but
by the nomenclators of Natural History, who have only a superficial
knowledge of Nature. The wolf also differs from the dog in several
external characteristics. The aspect of the head and form of the bones
are not the same, the cavity of the eye is obliquely placed in the
wolf, the orbits are inclined, his eyes sparkle in the night, he howls
instead of barking, his step is more precipitate, yet more uniform, his
body is stronger but less supple, his limbs more firm, his jaws and
teeth larger, and his hair much coarser.
When the females are near the time of bringing forth, they seek for an
agreeable place in the inmost recesses of the forest; in the middle of
the chosen spot, they level a small space, cutting away the thorns and
briars with their teeth; they can carry thither a quantity of moss,
which they form into a bed for their young; they generally bring forth
five or six, sometimes eight or nine, but never less than three. The
cubs, like puppies, come into the world with their eyes closed; the
mother suckles them for some weeks, and soon learns them to eat flesh,
which she prepares for them by chewing it; some time after she brings
them field mice, leverets, partridges, and birds yet alive; the young
wolves begin by playing with, and end by killing them, when the dam
strips them of their feathers, skins them, tears them in pieces, and
gives to each of her young a share. They do not leave this den until
they are six weeks or two months old; they then follow the mother, who
leads them to drink in the trunk of some old tree, or to a neighbouring
pool. If she apprehends any danger, she hastily conducts them back,
or conceals them in some convenient place. Though at other times more
timorous than the male, yet when her young are attacked she becomes
fearless, and defends them with fury. She never forsakes them until
they have shed their first teeth, and completed their new; when, having
acquired talents for rapine, and learned industry and courage from her
example, she leaves them to shift for themselves, being herself about
to be engaged in the care of a new progeny.
Both males and females are capable of generating when two years old.
It is probable that the female may be more forward than the male; it
is, however, certain, that they are not inclined to copulate before
the second winter, which necessarily implies 18 or 20 months of age;
a she-wolf, which I reared, discovered no symptoms until the third
winter, when she was more than two years and a half old. Huntsmen
assert that in every litter there are more males than females, which
seems to confirm the general remark, that Nature, in all species,
produces more of the former than the latter. From them also we learn
that some of the males attach themselves to the females, and accompany
them until they are about to bring forth, when she steals from him,
and carefully hides her young, lest he should devour them immediately
after birth; but that when brought forth, he takes the same care of
them as the female, carries them provisions, and if the mother happens
to be killed, he carefully brings them up. I cannot, however, pretend
to vouch for the truth of these facts, which appear to me contrary to
their natural dispositions.
These animals require two or three years to complete their growth,
and live to the age of 15 or 20; another proof of our position that
the growth takes up one seventh part of life. As the wolf grows old
he turns grey, and his teeth appear much worn. He sleeps when full
or fatigued, but more by day than night, and is always very easily
awakened. He drinks frequently, and in times of drought, when there is
no water in holes or trunks of trees, he will come to the brooks or
rivulets several times in the day. Although very voracious, he will
go four or five days without meat, provided he is well supplied with
water. He has great strength, particularly in his fore parts, in the
muscles of his neck and jaws. He will carry off a sheep in his mouth,
without letting it touch the ground, and at the same time outrun the
shepherds, so that nothing but dogs can overtake or oblige him to
quit his prey. He bites cruelly, and always with greater vehemence
in proportion as he is less resisted, for with such as can defend
themselves he is cautious and circumspect. He is cowardly, and never
fights but from necessity. When wounded by a bullet he will cry out,
and yet when surrounded and dispatched by clubs, he never complains
like the dog, but defends himself in silence, and dies as hard as he
lived. He is more savage, has less sensibility, and more strength than
the dog. He travels and roams about for nights and days together, and
perhaps of all animals is the most difficult to be hunted down. The
dog is gentle and courageous; the wolf though savage is fearful. If
entrapped in a snare he is for some time so frightened and overcome,
that he may be killed or taken alive, without offering to resist; he
will suffer himself to be chained, muzzled, and led along without
giving the least signs of anger or resentment. His senses, particularly
that of smelling, are very acute, and the odour of a carcass will
strike him, though at more than a league distant; he also scents
living animals a great way off, and will hunt them a long time by
following their track. On leaving the wood he always goes against the
wind, and upon coming to the extremity he stops, smells on all sides,
and receives the emanations that may come either from living or dead
bodies, and which he nicely distinguishes. He prefers living flesh to
carrion, but will eat the most infected carcasses. He is fond of human
flesh, and perhaps were he sufficiently powerful he would eat no other.
Wolves have been known to follow armies, to go in numbers into the
field after a battle, and devour such bodies as lay upon the surface,
or were negligently interred: when once accustomed to human flesh, they
will attack men, preferring the shepherd to his flock, devour women,
and carry off children.[M]
[M] These are called _loups garoux_, from the French word _garer_, to
take care, signifying that they are to be guarded against; _loup garou_
signifies also in the French language an unsociable man; a term, the
affinity of which to the former is not easily discoverable.
It sometimes happens that whole countries are obliged to arm for
the purpose of destroying them. Hunting of them is also a favourite
diversion among the great, and is certainly a very useful one. Wolves
are distinguished by huntsmen into _young_, _old_, and _very old_; they
are known by the prints of their feet, which are large in proportion
to their age; those of the females are longer and more slender. It is
necessary to have a good bloodhound to put up the wolf, and when upon
the scent every art must be used to encourage him, as all dogs have a
natural antipathy to this animal, and are very cold in the pursuit.
When the wolf is put up, greyhounds should be let after him in pairs,
the first pair almost immediately supported by a man on horseback;
the second when he is at the distance of eight or nine hundred paces,
and a third pair when the other dogs have come up with and begin to
bait him; he keeps them off for a considerable time, but the hunters
coming up generally dispatch him with their cutlasses; when killed the
dogs never shew the smallest appetite to enjoy the fruits of their
victory. The wolf is sometimes hunted by harriers, but as he runs
straight forward, and will hold his speed for a day together, the chace
is very tedious without greyhounds to harrass and turn him at every
view. Several arts have been adopted to destroy these noxious animals
such as worrying them with large mastiffs, laying snares, digging
pits, and spreading poisoned meats, yet their numbers remain nearly
the same, especially in woody countries. The Britons are said to have
extirpated them from their island, and yet I am assured they are still
found in Scotland; as there are but few forests in South Britain, their
destruction there was less difficult.
Their colour differs with the climate in which they live, and sometimes
in the same country. Beside the common wolves, in France and Germany,
there are others with thicker and yellow coloured hair; these, though
more savage are less destructive than the others, as they neither
approach flocks nor the habitations of men, but live solely by the
chace. In the northern climates some are found quite black, and
others entirely white. The common species are very generally diffused,
being found in Asia, Africa, and America, as well as in Europe. The
wolves of Senegal resemble those of France, except being larger and
more fierce; those of Egypt are smaller than those of Greece. In the
East, particularly in Persia, the wolf is trained up for a shew, being
taught to dance, and exhibit a number of tricks; and, according to
Chardin, when well taught, a single wolf will sell for 500 crowns. This
fact proves, that by dint of time and restraint, these animals are
susceptible of education. Several which I reared were very docile, and
even courteous, during the first year, nor ever attempted to seize the
poultry, or other animals, when properly fed, but when they arrived at
18 months I found it necessary to chain them, to prevent their doing
mischief, or running away. I allowed one that I had to range at large
among some fowls, and he never touched any of them till he was about 18
or 19 months old, when, as a specimen of what he could do, he killed
the whole in one night, without eating any of them. I had another which
broke his chain and ran off, but not till he had killed a dog with whom
he had been very familiar, and a particular instance of the ferocity
of a she-wolf I have given under the article Dog.
There is nothing valuable in this animal but his skin, which makes
a warm durable covering. His flesh is so bad that it is abhorred by
all animals, and no species will eat it, his own excepted. His breath
exhales a most fetid odour. As to satisfy his voracious appetite
he devours, without distinction, putrid flesh, hair, bones, skin
half tanned, or even any thing that comes in his way, so he vomits
frequently, and empties himself more often than he fills. In a word, he
is every way offensive; he has a savage aspect, a frightful howl, an
insupportable stench, a perverse disposition and fierce habit; he is
hateful while living and useless when dead.