Achilles

Description

One of Dr. McCleery's original wolves.

Gender

Male

Type of Wolf

Northern Lobo1(p.10)

Obtained

May/June 19211(p.10)

Obtained Through

Manager of the Zoo in Sheridan, Wyoming1(p.10)

Age When Obtained

3 years1(p.10)

Birth Date

About 1918

Death Date

By 1926

Biographical Text

Three weeks after Dr. McCleery acquired Achilles, a boy stabbed Achilles with a knife through the fence.1(p.10) Not having been at Dr. McCleery's residence long enough to establish confidence in anyone, he had a bad temperament after that, but Dr. McCleery conceded that Achilles never had a chance.1(p.12) He had a habit of enticing people to enter his pen and then attacking them.1(p.12) Dr. McCleery was the only person he ended up liking,1(p.15) and would tug on his sleeve to ask Dr. McCleery to stay in his yard a while longer.1(p.12)

Achilles was mated to Montana.1(p.7) Their first year together, they had Richard, Pyrrhus, and Neoptolemus.1(p.17) The three pups attacked Achilles and Montana did not help to defend him; she was only mated with Achilles because no other mate was available.1(p.17)

The only two of Achilles' offspring that Dr. McCleery ended up keeping were a son named Achilles Jr. and a daughter named Heidebloome.1(p.12)

Achilles and Jerry had a terrible rivalry, and although Jerry was the accepted leader of the pack, Achilles had a dominant personality and never submitted to him.1(p.17)

Achilles' eyesight was damaged by the bright sun of Wyoming when he was a pup.1(p.11) He weighed over 100 pounds.1(p.10)

The Lone Killer indicates that Achilles died before Montana died, and that Montana was mated with Geronimo afterards.1(p.16) Montana died in November 1926,2 so Achilles must have died by or in 1926.

Achilles is mentioned to have been moved to the new yard along Route 6, which happened in 1929, but this passage actually refers to Achilles II.1(p.15)