THE PRAIRIE WOLF. 1G7 



every direction, and in their eagerness to escape they some- 

 times ran into the months of the dogs. Where they are so 

 numerous, the greatest annoyance is that the hounds sep- 

 arate, and the result is that there are perhaps a dozen runs 

 going on at the same time instead of one. 



If a coyote is started alone — not an unusual occurrence — 

 the best means of securing a kill is to drive it as hard as pos- 

 sible for the first few miles, for, as in fox-hunting, it is the 

 pace at the start that does the work, and causes it to suc- 

 cumb in a short time. Having a large brush, it soon tires 

 on soft ground on a wet day, especially if the mud carries, 

 for the tail is heavy, and soon drags it down. If nature 

 intended it to escape by fleetness, she ought to have made 

 it bob-tailed ; for its present long caudal appendage is too 

 cumbersome for its fore-quarters in a long run, and is a 

 regular mud-carrier. When the animal is running uphill 

 it also trails badly, and seems to almost counterbalance the 

 advantage furnished by long hind-legs and staunch flanks. 

 Over hard, broken ground, however, it does not seem to be 

 so much of a drag-down, and the bearer can then travel at 

 a rate that would put the best hounds and horses in Great 

 Britain to their mettle to keep it in sight. The horses 

 used in its pursuit should be compact, fleet, and enduring, 

 and should also be prompt in movement — in a word, handy; 

 for a coyote will often jump out of its burrow in the twin- 

 kling of an eye, and the steed that is not able to get under 

 full headway in a moment is liable to remain in the back- 

 ground, unless it is unusually fleet of foot. Indian mus- 

 tangs make capital mounts, as they have fair endurance, 

 and can make a good spurt for a short distance, and can 

 plunge into a gallop from a halt; yet some of the thor- 

 ough-bred blood in them would enhance their value, as it 

 would give them the speed they now lack except for a few 

 minutes. Regular hunters would, to a certain extent, be 

 useless in the West, as the country frequented by the coy- 

 ote is so uneven, in many cases, that a run is often a scram- 

 ble up hill and down dale, and, to clamber Avell, a horse 

 seems to want some mustang blood in it, or the blood of 



