198 CONSERVATION OF CANADIAN WILD LIFE 



when it would not be desirable to kill a steer for the ranch hands. But 

 the coyotes have got the whip hand of us and our bunch will all be sold 

 in a few days." 



An Expert Opinion 



Mr. A. Bryan Williams, for many years Provincial Game Warden, in a 

 letter to the Wool Growers Association last March (1918), states: "It ap- 

 pears to me that the coyote question is one in which your Association 

 and my Department are equally interested, and if I had been retaining 

 my present position I should have been extremely pleased to have worked 

 in conjunction with you. There is one thing, however, to which I might 

 call your attention, which I believe is of particular interest to your Asso- 

 ciation, and that is that the sheep-killing coyote is very seldom killed. 

 The great majority of coyotes killed are not sheep-killers, the latter is 

 very wary, and it takes a really first class professional to catch him, and I 

 believe it would pay to have such a man employed by the Department of 

 Agriculture, to go from place to place, wherever his services were re- 

 quired, and trap these coyotes. I believe that more good has been done 

 in the United States by these professionals than any other way. I im- 

 agine, however, there would be extreme difficulty in getting such a man, 

 at any rate at the present time, but the idea is well worth considering." 



In British Columbia a vigorous campaign against these 

 animals has been carried on for a number of years. During 

 recent years bounties have been paid on the following num- 

 bers: 



1914 



1915 



1916 



Wolves . 

 Cougars 

 Coyotes 



382 



280 



4,138 



299 



235 



7,482 



210 



221 



17,352 



The greatest number of cougars was killed in Vancouver 

 Island. In spite of this destruction the number of these 

 predatory animals has undoubtedly increased, and the 

 coyote nuisance, in particular, has become more serious in 

 the sheep-raising sections. In his annual report for 1916 

 the provincial game warden of British Columbia states: 

 "The coyote nuisance has become a very serious one, as 



