Wolves are unusually numerous throughout the whole of n.w. America, and they are equally at home on the prairie or in the forests, on the mountains or on the treeless plateaus. The bison or American buffalo is now confined to a few region3 extending from British America to New Mexico, but it is nowhere as abundant as for: merly. The buffalo is hunted by two methods—stalking it, and running it down on horseback; and it is estimated that a quarter of a million bison are destroyed annually. Foxes arc very numerous, throughout the west, and fox-hunting as carried on it Europe was a favorite amusement with the southern planters before the rebellion Fox-hunting clubs and packs of hounds have been lately established in New York awl a few other places. The American antelope is found all over the open plains of the west. If the pleasures of antelope hunting were more generally known, it would become what hare-coursing is in the British kingdom, and with this greater advantage that it affords much keener amusement, and gives hounds, horses, and hunters a better opportunity of testing their speed, power, mettle, and endurance. Hares are so almn.
dant that they are considered nuisances in many sections of the country, and a good marksman can kill from twenty to fifty a day. In California the hare is hunted regu larly with greyhounds. It is the only part of the United States where a coursing club exists. This club is governed by the same rules as those of Great Britain, and itssmeets are accurately reported. The progeny of the victorious dogs command a high price. The bares are hunted in various ways. One method is to run them down out of cover with slow-hounds, and shoot them as they flee past a stand; another is to course them with greyhounds; and a third way is to trap or snare them. Among the smaller game which often afford pleasant sport are the raccoon, opossum, and squirrel families. The first two are hunted principally at night as they are nocturnal in habits, and are gener ally killed in the leafy retreats of trees and shrubbery where they take refuge. To hunt wood-squirrels successfully small curs or terriers should be used. See Fox-IIUNTING, ante.