Wolves and Wolf Nature 



Near the mouth of this hole may be found 

 bones, feathers and bits of skin, and often the 

 partially devoured bodies of rabbits, prairie 

 dogs and gophers, on which the pups have 

 been chewing or with which they have played. 

 The parents are constantly foraging for them 

 and they have plenty to eat. 



Their retreat does not always save them, 

 and I have more than once spent some hours 

 in the hot sun in reaching the bottom of such 

 a hole by laboriously digging into the bank 

 with a butcher knife. If the inmates are cap- 

 tured the profit is not grtat, for their extreme 

 timidity renders young coyotes most ill-na- 

 tured, cantankerous and vicious pets. Their 

 whole time and intelligence are devoted to 

 solving the problem of escape, and usually 

 one night — or at most two — gives them the 

 solution, and they slip their collars, chew off 

 their ropes, or gnaw a way out of the box, 

 and in the morning are missing. Then every- 

 body in camp — including him who held title 

 to the beasts — is heartily glad to be rid of 

 them. 



If, however, the coyote can be captured 

 very young, before it knows that there are 

 such things as friends and enemies, it is 



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