PREDATORY ANIMALS IN THE WEST 331 



in a northern New Mexico pasture. Not one of the 

 animals was touched, the wolves doing no injury except 

 to tear the body somewhere to let out blood to lap. The 

 wolf is one of the hardest of the wild animals to capture, 

 either by traps or poison. The ingenuity of the animal 

 in evading traps set by the most experienced trappers, 

 or poison placed with the greatest care and cunning, is 



"The Lion is Difficult to Trap But Easy to Capture with Hounds." 



almost beyond belief. Wolves will travel the roughest 

 places so as to leave no trail, while their scent is so keen 

 that it is almost impossible to place a trap or poisoned 

 baits without leaving some scent of the trapper that they 

 will detect and profit by. 



Fortunately the wolf, unlike the coyote, does not thrive 

 with civilization, and with the settling up of the country 

 it gradually declines in numbers until but few are left. 

 In such circumstances they are unusually keen. They 



