Var. A. L upus grisius. Common Gray Wolf.
Grey Wolf. Cook’s. Third Voyage. voL ix. P..293; L e w i s a s ® Ckahke, toI. i.p. 206: 283.
Common Gray Wolf. Schoolcraft’s Travels, p-. 285.
Canis lupus—griseus. Sabtne, Franklin’s Voy., p. 654.
Cams lupus. P arry’s First, Second, and Third Voyages.
Mahaygan. Cree Indians. Yes. Chepewyans.
Amarok. Esquimaux.
Pennant, in his Arctic Zoology, remarks, that “ the wolves towards Hudson’s
Bay are of different colours—grey and white, and some black and white; the
black hairs being mixed with the white chiefly along the back. In Canada they
have been found entirely white.” Lewis and Clark also say, “ the large wolves
of the Missouri are lower, shorter in the legs, and thicker than the Atlantic Wolf;
their colour, which is not affected by the seasons, is. of every variety of shade, from
a gray or blackish-brown to a cream-eoloured whiter” The gray, or rather the
gray and white variety, is the Common Wolf from Lake Superior to the northern
extremity of the Continent, and in the islands beyond it. It has been seen on the
Atlantic coast from Nootka northwards.
The following description, by Mr. Sabine, of a specimen procured at Cumberland
House, in latitude 54°, and deposited by Captain Franklin in the British Museum,
will make the reader acquainted with its appearance:__
DESCRIPTION.
“ It is very dissimilar in colour to the usual state of the (European} woffl and is o f a much
greater size. The teeth are remarkably strong and large; the ears sharp and erect, thickly,
clothed with dark-brown hair, tipped with gray-r above and below on the neck the hair is
thick and bushy; the whole of the body is covered with a mixture of long gray and black-
hairs, having some few white ones intermixed on the back; the sides and belly are dark gray •
the tail is bushy, gray tipped with brown; the legs are strong, covered with dark-brown h air;
claws strong, short, and arched,” ,
A specimen procured at Carlton House on the same river, and now in the Museum of the
Zoological Society*, has thé face, cheeks, throat, belly,, hips, and tail, white, except a small
part of the latter, adjoining the rump, where it is blackish. On the back and sides there
is an intermixture of long black and white hairs, which, with the grayish wool that partially
No. 33. Catalogs o f the Museum.
appears, gives a general grayish hue to these parts, deepening along the dorsal line into black.
The hair on the back part of the cheeks is very bushy. In other individuals which I have
seen, the mixture of dark-gray with black and brown forms distinct patches on an almost
white ground. Therfe is generally a darker line along the spine.
The Gray Wolf differs in size in different districts, and even in the same district
individuals differing much in height and strength, but (as far as one can judge
from their teeth) of nearly equal age, are to be found. The wolves of the desert
country lying to the north of Great Slave Lake, and much frequented by reindeer,
are of great dimensions. Farther north again, in the islands of the Polar
sea, visited by Captain Parry, they were generally smaller, their average height
in that quarter being only about twenty-seven inches. Captain Sabine states those
of Melville Island to be as big as a full-sized setter-dog.
Dimensions
Of the prepared shin of a Gray Wolf killed at Cumberland House.
Feet. Inches.
Length of the head and body . . 4 0 I Height to the top of the shoulder
"tail . . . 1 2 |
F e e t. In c h e s.
2 0
Dimensions
Of a Oray Wolf starved to death at Fort Franklin, April 1821, (measured before it was skinned.)
F e e t . In ch e s. * . F e e t.
Length of head and body . . . 4
,, tail (vertebrae) . . . 1
,, tail, including fur . . 2
Height at the fore-shoulder, and also at the
2 haunches, the feet'being flat on the ground,
7 and th e fu r of the bade pressed down . 2
2 Height with the fur of the back in its natural
rough state . . . . . » 3
In ch e s.
8
0
Dimensions
Of a specimen as mounted in the Zoological Museum, which was procured at Carlton House.
Length of head and body . . ,
„ tail (vertebrae) i .
„ tail, including the hair .
Height of the back,—fur pressed down .
F e e t. In ch e s.
. 4 4
* 1 3 |
• !.1 6£
, 2 2
Height of the back,—fur rough
Distance from top of the nose to the orbit
Height of the 'ear, measured on ^the inner
side - \ • . • . . -
,F e e t. In ch e s.
2 5
0 H
0 3J
K2