COLOUR OF WOLVES 249

the chance of getting a shot at a coyote. Now it so
happened that I had on a light brown shooting coat, and
the man without the rifle having caught a glimpse of the
grass moving and something just about the colour of a
coyote, immediately pointed to me and said, ‘“‘ There is
a coyote ; quick, shoot him.” Whereupon the man with
the rifle raised his weapon and .actually held the sights
on me, but waited until he could get a clear view before
pressing the trigger. Just then I raised my head a little
in order to see if I were close enough, and so they saw me.
The distance they were away from me could not have been
over fifty yards, so that if the shot had been fired it would
only have been a question of whether the bullet struck
me in a fatal place or not. Those two men were quite
upset over the matter, but curiously enough the man
without the rifle was by far the most agitated. Probably
he knew perfectly well that if the rifle had been in his
hands he would not have waited.

Our timber wolves are huge, vicious-looking beasts,
quite double the weight of a coyote, and if not superior,
at least equal in size to any wolf of any other country.
In colour they vary greatly. On the coast dark hues are
more common; some are almost black, others have grey
in greater or lesser quantity, some are brindled, and a
few of the light tawny brown of the coyote. These light
brown wolves are said to be only a colour phase of the
same species, but they seem to band together and breed
truer and more consistent to colour than the others. In
the interior the light coloured ones are more plentiful
than on the coast. In more northern latitudes the wolves
often become very light coloured, and once in a while
one becomes almost white.

While the stories of the ferocity of wolves may not be
so numerous as those of bears, still every now and again
you are apt to hear or read of their attacking human
beings. Not long ago there appeared a story of the North
and after reading it anybody who did not know the true
facts of the case might easily be led to believe that wolves
existed everywhere in droves and that travellers took