146 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



is not near, and break away for the hills, there to die, and 

 be lost to the "wolfer." Some persons who follow "wolf- 

 ing " as an addendum to their regular trapping or hunting, 

 sprinkle aniseseed or assafoetida over the poison and drag 

 the bait over an area of several square miles, dropping 

 pieces here and there until camp is reached, when they 

 scatter several about in various directions, or tie them to 

 trees and rocks, at a snatching height, with strings, so that 

 they cannot be pulled away. This is a very effective sys- 

 tem, as the trail of the meat is easily followed by its pun- 

 gent odor, and, when once the wolves get on its line, they 

 seldom give up until they reach the end. As the poison 

 produces a burning thirst, it would be well to have some 

 water convenient to the bait at intervals ; for, when once 

 they have drunk this, they collapse immediately. If water 

 is not near, they often run for miles to obtain it ; and this 

 necessitates a long walk in the deep snow, and freezing at- 

 mosphere, to get the remains. 



Another means of poisoning them that is frequently em- 

 ployed is to bore or cut a hole in a deep block of wood and 

 fill it with melted fat sprinkled with strychnine, and place 

 these blocks on the ground at irregular intervals. When 

 the wolves find them they must lap up the fat slowly, and 

 before they have cleaned out one cavity they are, in the 

 majority of cases, turned into corpses. A little aniseseed 

 or assafoetida scattered over the fat will help to attract the 

 animals from afar, and lead them to blocks which they 

 might otherwise miss. I have known forty coyotes to be 

 collected in a space of three hundred yards by both these 

 means, but I should consider the former the more prefer- 

 able of the two. 



Trapping is of comparatively little avail, owing to the 

 cautiousness, sagacity, and timidity of all the wolf family, 

 whether small or large ; but if a trap is used, it should be 

 the double-springed American make, as that will cling to 

 anything. 



Some men earn from five hundred to fifteen hundred 

 dollars each in poisoning wolves during the winter and 



