66 



quiu musk. The mixture should be spviuklea over the grass, weeds and 

 ground near the trap, but never on the trap. No poison is so effective as 

 sulphate of strychnine; 4 grains should be placed in a capsule and inserted 

 in a piece of beef-suet the size of a walnut. 



The bounty on wolves, which has been up to the iiresent time .$2 per head, 

 was in January, 1908, raised to $15. 



Cougars. 



Commonly known as panthers, and often called mountain lions, are 

 common on Vancouver Island, and les.s so on the Mainland, and are the 

 principal enemy of the shepherd, often causing great loss amongst sheep, and 

 to a certain extent amongst pigs. A good dog, who will track a panther and 

 tree him, is about the best protection for a sheep-producer. The bounty on 

 these pests has lately been raised from $7..50 to .$15 per heud. This will, no 

 doubt, offer such an incentive that it is hoped the numbers will hereafter be 

 materially reduced. 



Skunks 



Are a nuisance in several ways; their depredations in hen-roosts are well 

 known, and the malodorous effluvium emitted when they are disturbed is of 

 such a pungent character as to render dwellings uninhabitable on occasions. 



Of course, shooting the pests is a quick way of ridding the hen-house, but 

 there arise the disagreeable consequences alluded to. A method which the 

 writer can vouch for, having seen it done, by which all disagreeable conse- 

 quences are avoided, is to approach the animal gently, and by coaxing it and, 

 as the performer observed, gaining its confidence, a noose at the end of about 

 three feet of line, attached to a short stick, is slipped over its head, and he is 

 at once lifted off the ground and then drowned. Jlr. Kimpton, at Windermere, 

 who rids his place by this method, assured the writer that as long as the hind 

 feet of the skunk are kept off the ground, he is incapable of emitting his 

 effluvium. 



R.\CCOONS 



Are very prevalent, especially in the vicinity of the sea, where their 

 depredations are principally directed to hen-roosts and fruit. A good dog, 

 such as a large fox terrier, with a little training, soon acquires the trick of 

 tracking coons and killing them. A dog, unaccustomed to the tactics of a 

 raccoon, however, generally comes off second best. 



