Homesteading 



In places the prairie is honeycombed with 

 badger-holes, making travelling at times trouble- 

 some for man and beast, and there must be 

 immense numbers of these animals, though 

 their appearance on the surface is not very- 

 common. 



Passing a sheltered, sunny spot, a grey, shaggy 

 coyote, who appeared to be having a morning 

 nap, uncoiled himself and loped off into a bluff. 

 These sneaking prairie wolves, which prey on the 

 farmer's poultry and may even kill a small calf, 

 never seem to attack humanity, and small children 

 go safely to and from school. These coyotes 

 appear to get curiously mixed up with the dogs 

 of the district, and Bob told us that their dog 

 Ben, being decoyed off by a lady friend (herself 

 apparently part wolf), went among the outlaws, 

 as they surmised, and for the time his nature 

 seemed quite changed. The owner of the other 

 dog told them to shoot her, which they did, when 

 Ben settled down again ; but later on, being out 

 with Bob and meeting some coyotes, Ben seemed 

 to fraternize with them instead of being torn 

 to pieces, as his master feared might have been 

 the case. 



We pitched our tent on the same spot it had 

 occupied on our first visit to Tom's homestead, 

 and having brought with us a supply of fence- 



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