Coyote 805 



Sample dung-pellets gathered on the Athabaska River, 

 Aha., in late October, 1907, were sent to the Biological Survey 

 at Washington for analysis. The following remains in them 

 were identified by Edward A. Preble and W. L. McAtee: 



Rosa {actcularisF), many seeds; Rihes, a great many 

 berries; Aralia nudtcaula, many berries and seeds; Microtus 

 drummondt, some hair (apparently) and portion of skull; 

 Peromyscus, incisor (apparently Peromyscus); Fish, portion of 

 skull of some fish; Water-beetles (Cortxa), remains of a good 

 many; Grasshoppers {Melanoplus horealis), remains of about 

 20; Ant, head of one. 



The winter is, of course, the season of peril for all creatures 

 that do not store up a full supply of food, or hibernate. Can 

 it stand the winter .? is the crucial test of all Northern species. 

 Probably the chief thing that carries the Coyote race through 

 is the new supply of food brought in by their enemy — the 

 winter — that is, winter-killed sheep and cattle. These are 

 dragged forth from time to time, and at each carcass half-wild 

 dogs contend in nightly feast with Coyotes, or both retire 

 while a big Gray-wolf fills his capacious belly. 



There are several disadvantages in this food supply: it mange 

 affords a certain place for traps and poison to be laid; hundreds 

 of Coyotes and not a few dogs are thus destroyed every year. 

 The flesh of horses is credited also with giving mange to Wolves 

 that over-indulge. Epidemics of mange have been known 

 among the Coyotes. The popular view is that they come 

 from over-feeding on dead horses. I do not know the evidence 

 for this explanation or against it. The mange speedily ruins 

 an animal's coat, and in a Manitoba winter, of course, this 

 means death. 



At Carberry, in 1892, I was generally assured by residents 

 that Coyotes were quite common still, although the Foxes were 

 growing scarce. As many as 70 or 80 skins were to be seen 

 hanging in Carberry at the same time, and the price for the 

 primest had then dropped from $1.50 to 75 cents. A local 

 farmer, Thomas Kerr, said that one winter a Prairie-wolf 



