The Wolf usually lives in solitary places in mountains; but in Spain he is said sometimes to make his lair in corn-fields, in close proximity to inhabited dwellings. Here he lives with his wife and family, usually caché during the day, and issuing forth at night to take his prey. During the warmer periods of the year Wolves, as a rule, hunt each one for himself, but in the winter they often unite into great packs, and pursue their prey over the snow at a rapid pace and with indomitable perseverance. Swift and untiring must be the animal which, on an open plain, can escape from them; even the Horse, perfectly constructed as he is for rapid running, is almost certain to succumb, unless he can reach a village before his pace begins to flag. They never spring upon an animal from an ambush--the nearest approach ever made to such a mode of attack being their practice of attacking sheepfolds by leaping into the midst of the flock and killing right and left; when they reach their prey, too, the first onslaught is made with the teeth, and never by a blow of the paw. Thus, a Wolf’s attack--like that of all members of the genus Canis--is entirely different from a Cat’s. The Cat lies in ambush all alone, springs upon the passing prey, which, if he misses he scarcely ever pursues, and kills by a blow of the paw. The Dog and Wolf attack openly, sometimes alone, but oftener in company, pursue their prey with unflagging energy until it falls a victim, and give the death-wound at once with their teeth. To shepherds the Wolf is, and has been from the earliest times, a most unmitigated curse. A single Wolf will leap the wall of a sheepfold and murder perhaps a quarter or a third of the flock before his lust of slaughter is satisfied. Of course, he cannot eat more than one, or part of one, and the others he slays from wanton cruelty. Mutton is naturally his standing dish, as it can be procured, if at all, in abundance, and with comparatively little difficulty; but he is not at all particular, and will eat Deer, Goats, Birds, and even Reptiles. But his favourite meat, curious to relate, is _Dog_, and there are many instances related of the eagerness and recklessness shown by Wolves to obtain this cannibal feast. “Wolves have been known to carry off a Pointer from a sledge going at full gallop. The animal leaps with a single bound amongst the three or four persons in the vehicle, who remain stupefied at so much audacity, seizes his innocent victim, and plunges again into the forest. The whole is done in less time than it takes to tell. Another time, it is a young Newfoundland, which his master, travelling on horseback, has placed before him, on the pommel of his large saddle; the Wolf sees him, leaps upon and seizes him, and carries him off without touching man or horse.”[124]