THE ENEMIES OF WILD LIFE 203 



The views of the stockmen of Saskatchewan on the danger 

 from coyotes in that province are set forth in the following 

 statement of the Live Stock Commission:* 



Protection Against Sheep Pests: "So far as sheep are concerned, the 

 timber wolf, the coyote and the dog are more dangerous than any bacillus; 

 the sheep of Saskatchewan are free from the intestinal parasites which 

 plague flocks in so many parts of the United States. The coyote is par- 

 ticularly harmful in many rough or partly wooded sections which would 

 otherwise be well adapted to sheep, and worrying dogs may appear in 

 any section. 



" It has been the practice of the Government of Saskatchewan for some 

 years to pay a bounty of $1.00 per head on coyotes killed in the province. 

 As this sum is only a small portion of the value of the pelts, it is open to 

 question whether the offer of the bounty has led to the killing of many 

 more wolves than would have been killed without it. It would be well, 

 therefore, to consider whether part or all of the amount usually expended 

 in this fashion could not be used to better purpose in some alternative 

 method of combatting the wolf pest, and particularly in encouraging the 

 breeding and use of wolf hounds." 



The following is typical of the experience of stockmen: 



Mr. J. C. Hall, Lumsden, Sask., vyrites: "They [the coyotes] are a 

 perfect pest here; also the cause of very material damage and expense. I 

 bought this farm with the intention of raising stock of various kinds, but 

 I find that to start sheep raising would be very poor business under the 

 circumstances." 



Manitoba. — The coyote problem in Manitoba is admira- 

 bly set forth in the following letter, which I have received 

 from Mr. W. W. Fraser, provincial live-stock commissioner: 



"We regard this pest as being an exceedingly serious one, more par- 

 ticularly in the newer districts and where there is more or less shelter 

 by way of trees and scrub. He is a menace chiefly to the sheep industry. 

 I desire to point out clearly that it is not only what he destroys in the 

 form of sheep, poultry and game to an alarming degree in the aggregate, 

 but where I consider the real damage is done is that hundreds of our farm- 



* Final Report of the Live Stock Commission of the Province of Saskatchewan, 

 1918, p. 21. Published by the Department of Agriculture of Saskatchewan, 

 Regina. 



