Orleans County Monitor

Wolves In France.—A French agricultural newspaper furnishes some interesting statistics in connection with the number of wolves in France. There are about 2,000 able-bodied animals of that species, which destroy to the amount of about 1,000 francs a year each. But this 2,000,000 francs in no way represents the loss occasioned by their presence; these 2,000 wolves, who only devour some 30,000 sheep a year, oblige the farmers to keep 20,000 sheep in folds, and render it impossible for them to feed in the fields as in England. All this entails great expense. The writer thinks that if proper measures were taken the young wolves might be killed in April, and the country freed from this scourge in the course of a few years. It may be doubted, however, whether it would be possible to get rid of wolves entirely, as in hard winters they come in from North Germany and Poland. They are sometimes found at Chantilly and Fontainebleau. They are very cunning. A pack of them will go to a fold, and place themselves all on the same side. The sheep naturally huddle together at the other extremity. On a sudden the wolves dart around, and the terrified sheep rush in a body with such force across the fold that they often knock down the barriers which protect them.