The reason for the hunt was now plain enough. Up to this time the
caribou had been let severely alone, though they were very numerous,
scattered through the dense coverts in every valley and on every
hillside. For Wayeeses is no wanton killer, as he is so often
represented to be, but sticks to small game whenever he can find it, and
leaves the deer unmolested. As for his motive in the matter, who shall
say, since no one understands the half of what a wolf does every day?
Perhaps it is a mere matter of taste, a preference for the smaller and
more juicy tidbits; more likely it is a combination of instinct and
judgment, with a possible outlook for the future unusual with beasts of
prey. The moment the young wolves take to harrying the deer--as they
invariably do if the mother wolf be not with them--the caribou leave the
country. The herds become, moreover, so wild and suspicious after a very
little wolf hunting that they are exceedingly difficult of approach; and
there is no living thing on earth, not even a white wolf or a trained
greyhound, that can tire or overtake a startled caribou.
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