238 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 



industry. In many parts of the West the rais- 

 ing of sheep has been greatly deterred on this 

 account; and woeful stories of destruction are 

 on record. It was this state of affairs that led 

 the Biological Survey a few years ago to make 

 special studies of the coyote situation. 



"It is evident that the wealth of any State can be 

 materially increased if it is possible everywhere to 

 keep small flocks of sheep. Flocks increase rapidly 

 under favorable conditions and good management, 

 and the cost of keeping is small when herders can 

 be dispensed with. The double product, wool and 

 mutton, usually places the profit of handling sheep 

 above that of cattle or horses. The gains also come 

 oftener, since sheep mature in a year, while cattle 

 and horses require three. 



"In the region about Seguin, Tex., according to 

 Vernon Bailey, chief field-naturalist of the Biological 

 Survey, no sheep are kept, because of the abundance 

 of coyotes. The farmers admit the advantage of in- 

 troducing sheep, but the fear of coyotes deters them 

 from the experiment. Similar conditions prevail 

 over large areas in many parts of the West. The 

 number of sheep in the United States has been de- 

 creasing during the past two years [1904-5], while 

 the price of wool has been excellent and the demand 

 for mutton steadily increasing. Montana, with an 

 area of 146,000 square miles, leads the States in the 

 number of sheep kept, which is 5,638,967. Yet Eng- 



