Shepherdstown Register

Wolves In Illinois.

Much to the astonishment and consternation of the farmers, writes a contributor from Illinois, wolves made their appearance winter before last in various parts of the State. No one knows where they came from. Farmers saw two different pairs of wolves near the village of Waggoner, a few miles north of Litchfield; and nearly every day the wolves would kill sheep and lambs and sometimes pigs and chickens. It soon became evident that they not only were living on mutton and other delicacies themselves but were providing food for families of young wolves. Since the farmers could use neither traps nor poison lest they kill their shepherd dogs, they were puzzled how to protect their flocks. They often heard the wolves barking at night and sometimes caught a glimpse of them in daytime, but the skulking gray brutes were too wary and quick to be caught napping.

Finally, the farmers organized a big hunt. The hunters formed a great circle and gradually closed in, but the wolves slipped through the weakest part of the line and escaped. The people sent for several packs of hounds and organized another hunt. Again they rounded up the wolves, and again the wolves escaped; the dogs were not trained wolf hunters. However, they did find a den in which were five young ones.

The wolves then ranged for a while a few miles north of their previous "run," but later a farmer saw one of them eating a rabbit near Waggoner. The man killed it, but there were others, and they continued to bark and howl at night.

Not many miles from that neighborhood other wolves had been preying on the farmers' live stock. They had their dens in the wooded slopes round Hillsboro. One night a farmer near town was awakened by the playful barks of his shepherd dog. Rising, he looked out of the window and saw in the moonlight a large wolf playing with his dog. Several times the wolf tried vainly to coax the dog to follow. The farmer was afraid to shoot for fear of hitting the dog. For several nights he saw the two play together. Then while at work one day he saw a wolf spring over the fence, catch a chicken and run off with it.

A few days later he came upon the wolf devouring another chicken. It stood its ground defiantly and growled. Hastening to the house, he got his gun and killed it. He then thoroughly searched the adjoining woods and found a den in which were five young wolves. He believes that the mother wolf had been deprived of her mate and through loneliness had made friends with the watchdog.