Brehm's Life of animals - a complete natural history for popular home instruction and for the use of schools (1895) (19791869103)

Title: Brehm's Life of animals : a complete natural history for popular home instruction and for the use of schools
Identifier: brehmslifeofanim00breh (find matches)
Year: 1895 (1890s)
Authors: Brehm, Alfred Edmund, 1829-1884; PechuLoesche, Eduard, 1840-1913; Haacke, Wilhelm, 1855-1912; Schmidtlein, Richard
Subjects: Mammals; Animal behavior
Publisher: Chicago : Marquis
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library



Text Appearing Before Image:
THE DOG FAMILY—WOLF. 101 in the Atlas country. He also extends all over northeastern and central Asia, throughout Afghan- istan and Beloochistan south to the Indus, perhaps to the upper Punjab, and has a so closely allied rela- tive in North America that his range may be said to extend also over the western hemisphere, and the North American and Mexican Wolves may be re- garded only as varieties. The Wolf as The ancients knew the Wolf well. Many Known to Greek and Roman authors mention him, the Ancients, some not only with the horror which he has always excited, but with a secret terror of the uncanny or ghost-like attributes of the animal. In the old German mythology the Wolf, as the animal consecrated to Woden, is rather venerated than de- tested; the latter feeling arises, however, later, when Christianity takes the place of pagan mythology. Then Woden became "The Wild Hunter" and the south. It even takes up its habitation in bushy but not very large thickets, in damp forests, in maize fields, and, in Spain, is even found in corn fields, sometimes irf the immediate neighborhood of vil- lages. In densely populated districts it shows itself before sunset only in exceptional cases, but in lonely forests it begins its activity in the afternoon, like the Fox under similar conditions, and prowls around, seeking something for its ever famished stomach. During spring and summer it lives singly, in twos or in threes; during the autumn it lives in families, and in winter in more or less numerous packs, va- rying in size with the favorable or unfavorable char- acter of the locality for such a union. How the Wolf When Wolves have once gathered Hunts in into a pack they do everything in Packs or Singly, common, calling each other with a howl, and mutually assisting in the search for food.
Text Appearing After Image:
GUARA. This is the native name of an animal also called the Red Wolf, or Maned Wolf, which has a wide range in South America and is especially plentiful in southern Brazil, Paraguay and the Argentine Republic. It differs from other Wolves in its lighter build, more pointed muzzle, shorter tail and elongated feet. The fur is yellowish on the under portion, reddish brown on the sides and a darker brown on the spine, where it forms a mane about five inches long. The hair is short and smooth on the face and feet and longer on the body. Its caution keeps it away from settlements, and it is cunning and cowardly, fearing Man and fleeing at his approach. It rarely attacks domestic animals, but lives principally on small animals, especially rodents, which it finds in the marshes which form its favorite haunts, and is also said to eat small fruits. (Cants Ju&atus.) Wolves his Dogs, until finally the animal becomes the ghost-like Wolf of nursery fables, a monster who is alternately Man and Wolf. The numbers of the Wolf are being more and more reduced, but his last days in civilized Europe are evi- dently still far off. During the past century this harmful Beast of Prey existed in every larger Ger- man forest, and statistics show that even during this century thousands have been killed. They appeared in great numbers in the wake of the French army fleeing from Russia, that retreat furnishing them so many corpses which served them as food. Where the The Wolf inhabits lonely, quiet regions, Wolf Makes and spots in the wilderness, delighting His Lair. ;n dense, gloomy forests, bogs with alter- nating swampy and dry places, and plains in the A Wolf prowls around in company with others exactly in the same way as he does singly; he fol- lows chains of mountains, wanders through plains, traverses entire provinces in crossing from one wood to another, and therefore may suddenly make his appearance in localities where he has not been seen for a long time, sometimes for a lapse of several years. It has been proven that he may cover from twenty-five to forty-three miles in a single night on his wanderings. Not infrequently, and always in winter when the snow is deep, packs of Wolves run in single file, like Indians on the warpath, and tread into each other's foot-marks, if possible, so that even an expert finds difficulty in estimating the size of the pack. The agility of the Wolf presup- poses a great expenditure of strength, rapid tissue