I
have seen wolves from Texas and New Mexico which were undersized,
slim animals with rather small tusks, in no way to be compared to the
long-toothed giants of their race that dwell in the heavily timbered
mountains of the Northwest and in the far North. As a rule, the teeth of
the coyote are relatively smaller than those of the gray wolf.
Formerly wolves were incredibly abundant in certain parts of the
country, notably on the great plains, where they were known as buffalo
wolves, and were regular attendants on the great herds of the bison.
Every traveller and hunter of the old days knew them as among the most
common sights of the plains, and they followed the hunting parties and
emigrant trains for the sake of the scraps left in camp. Now, however,
there is no district in which they are really abundant. The wolfers, or
professional wolf-hunters, who killed them by poisoning for the sake
of their fur, and the cattlemen, who likewise killed them by poisoning
because of their raids on the herds, have doubtless been the chief
instruments in working their decimation on the plains.
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