HO SPORTING ADVENTURES 



It is sometimes rather dangerous to handle this animal when 

 dead, for it is frequently covered with sores, produced by eating 

 the corpses of Indians, which are often left unburied, or so 

 lightly covered that they can be easily dug up. Persons should 

 therefore be cautious about handling it without gloves. 



The only danger one encounters in hunting it on horseback 

 is, that in a headlong dash his steed may tread in the hole of 

 a prairie dog, badger, or ground-squirrel, and break its leg, or 

 be thrown so violently as to pitch the rider several feet away 

 on his back. This can be avoided, however, by a little caution, 

 so that the sport is not so dangerous as fox or stag hunting in 

 Europe. 



A run is spoiled occasionally by the numbers of the animal, 

 for, congregating as it does in large packs, it is no uncommon 

 thing for the hounds to come suddenly upon one containing 

 twenty or more, and then it is both amusing and annoying to see 

 them break into half a dozen or more groups and scamper away 

 in different directions with as many groups of hounds behind 

 them. All the horns in the world could not control the dogs 

 under such circumstances, so the riders have to follow some 

 special pack, or sit idly in their seats and await the return. As 

 a coyote rarely runs to ground, crosses heavy woods though 

 it may pass through a coppice or doubles back, a person may 

 imagine how tedious it must be to await the return of the 

 hounds. I have known them to go so far that they did not 

 get back to camp until late at night, and it was no unusual 

 event for some of them to spend a night on the prairie. 



A hunt would be more picturesque if there were many 

 persons in the field, or if it were graced by the presence of 

 ladies ; but in that thinly settled country men and women are 

 too busy to devote much attention to the chase, except for 

 some practical purpose, such as supplying the house with meat, 

 or their pockets with the money procured from the sale of 

 peltries. 



One of the most interesting runs that I ever had after the 

 coyotes netted us six of them ; but when we returned to 

 the house in the evening, both hounds and horses were so 

 badly used up that they were of little use for two or three day?. 



