192 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 



mistook the wolves for two cotton- 

 tail rabbits — and quickly lifting 

 his gun to his shoulder popped 

 one of the animals down. Great 

 however was our surprise when, 

 instead of a rabbit, two young co- 

 yote wolves rolled around that 

 hole! It was quite late in the 

 evening, and the small coyotes 

 were far off and quite well pro- 

 tected by surrounding weeds, and 

 for this reason the animals could 

 not be well discerned.both of us 

 beingindoubt,butI advised to pop 

 one down, and when we reached 

 the hole it was noticed that it led 

 to' a deep ca,vern inside the earth. 



was getting too late to make such 

 attempt again, and on our way 

 home, we met the two old coyotes 

 near the place the young ones 

 were encountered, but out of gun 

 range. 



The nice prairie scene depicted 

 in these pages of a Texas coyote 

 behind some mesquite trees, was 

 kodaked by my friend, Mr. Louis 

 Guessaz, and it is an actual scene 

 ' ' on the spot ' ' when the night ma- 

 rauder was captured with a steel 

 trap. • It seems coyotes were be- 

 coming very obnoxious around 

 Mr. Guessaz 's farm yard, and one 

 bright moonlight night he treated 



Large Coyote Caught in 4. Steel Trap 



the old wolf angrily trotting up 

 and down that subterranean cav- 

 ity. The little wolves looked very 

 neat — like a pair of young brown 

 Duppies, of the German "Dax- 

 hund" type. They also had long 

 oointed ears, and a long shaped 

 face and snout, with long and 

 pointed ears and a long shaped 

 face and snout with its long and 

 sharp edged teeth. We carried 

 the trophies to the owner of the 

 pasture and great was his joy, but 

 sorry at the same time, that we 

 had not annihilated the whole ma- 

 rauding outfit in that cavity, 

 which we also regretted; but it 



them with an. extra fine meal, in 

 form of a. baited steel trap, and 

 the victim seen depicted on the en- 

 graving must have made a mis- 

 step, as next morning the coyote 

 was found madly struggling in- 

 side the clutches of the trap ; and ' 

 in this position the photoview 

 was taken. • 



In the "Texas Field and Na- 

 tional Guardsman" (February is- 

 sue, 1913,) appeared an unusual 

 interesting and instructive article 

 on destroying the coyote in Ore- 

 gon, and I take the liberty to ap- 

 pend the entire report herein, as 

 follows : 



