Brehm's Life of animals - a complete natural history for popular home instruction and for the use of schools. Mammalia (1896) (20225290588)

Title: Brehm's Life of animals : a complete natural history for popular home instruction and for the use of schools. Mammalia
Identifier: brehmslifeofanim1896breh (find matches)
Year: 1896 (1890s)
Authors: Brehm, Alfred Edmund, 1829-1884; Pechuel-Loesche, Edward, 1840-1913; Haacke, Wilhelm, 1855-1912; Schmidtlein, Richard
Subjects: Mammals; Animal behavior
Publisher: Chicago : Marquis
Contributing Library: Internet Archive
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive



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190 THE BEASTS OF PREY. -n order to judge correctly of the domestic Dog and his numberless varieties, it is absolutely neces- sary to become acquainted first with his relatives in the wild state, the Wolves, among which we must look for his progenitors. It also seems but logical to consider the wild Dogs before we turn to the domestic varieties. The former teach us what the Dog originally was before he became the property of Man; in them we see the aboriginal animal, while the tamed Dog represents the changed, or if I may term him such, the humanized animal. THE WOLVES PROPER. The sub-order of Wolves proper (Lupus) comprises all Wolf-like Dogs except the Hyaena-Dog; they have forty-two teeth, and show a great variety in their external appearance, though the head is al- •ways moderately large and the snout rather pointed. takes on a yellowish hue ; in northern countries it is of a whiter, and in southern regions of a blacker tint. The forehead is whitish gray, the snout yellowish gray, but always mixed with black; the lips are whitish, the cheeks yellowish and sometimes indistinctly striped with black ; the dense woolly under-fur is dull gray. Here and there one may meet a black Wolf, which as well as some other modified species is only a variety. Wolves inhabiting mountains are in general large and strong, while the Wolves of the plains are most perceptibly smaller and weaker, but by no means less aggressive or bloodthirsty than their mountain relatives. In Hungary and Galicia a distinction is generally recognized between the Wolf of the forest and the Wolf of the plain. An adult Wolf attains a length of sixty-four inches, about twenty of which are taken up by the tail ; the height at the shoulder is about thirty-four inches. A
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THE JACKAL WOLF. This is a species of Wolf found in Egypt. Nubia. Abyssinia and the Soudan and called " Abuel Hossein" by the A rabs. It has a stout body on slender legs, pointed snout, and a general appearance of strength and agility. While generally attacking only smaller animals, the Wolves sometimes hunt in packs, and several of them are often found together, as in the picture. (Cauis antlius ) The Wolf the The Wolf (Cams lupus or Lupus vulgaris) Most Common has much the shape of a large, long- Species. legged, lean Dog which lets its tail hang down instead of curling it upward. A close inspection shows the following characteristics: the body is lean, waist retracted; the legs correspond to this bodily structure; the long-haired tail reaches the ankle-joint; the snout appears long and pointed in comparison with the thick head; the forehead is slop- ing; the eyes have a slanting position and the ears are always erect. The fur is subject to changes both in density and color, according to the country the Wolf inhabits. In the northern regions, the hair is long, rough and dense, longest on the under surface of the body and the thighs, bushy on the tail, dense and erect on the neck and sides; in southern coun- tries it is on the whole shorter and rougher. The color is usually a dull, grayish yellow with an admix- ture of black; it is lighter, often assuming a whitish gray tint, on the under surface. In summer the gen- eral color has more of a reddish tinge, in winter it large specimen may weigh eighty or even one hun- dred pounds. The female differs from the male by being of a slighter build, and having a more pointed nose and a thinner tail. Wide Range The Wolf is still spread over a wide Inhabited by area, though his territory has been much the Wolf, restricted in comparison with former times. He is found throughout nearly the whole of Europe, though he has disappeared from the most densely populated parts of this continent. He is extensively distributed in Spain, being found in all the mountainous sections and even on the larger plains; he is common enough in Greece, Italy and France, more rare in Switzerland, and is extinct in middle and northern Germany and Great Britain. He is common in eastern Europe. The countries in which he is most abundant are Hungary, Galicia, Croatia, Craniola, Scrvia, Bosnia, the country of the Danube, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Norway and Lap- land. He has never been found on Iceland and the islands of the Mediterranean, but he seems to exist