TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 193 



Destroying the Coyote in Oregon 



"Despite the fact that for years 

 every known contrivance has been 

 enaployed to bring about the de- 

 struction of the coyote in Oregon 

 he is still the worst pest that state 

 has to deal with. To his cunning 

 the sheepman and farmers are 

 paying an annual tribute of no 

 less than $1,000,000. Each of half 

 a dozen neighboring states is 

 paying a tribute. In some 

 cases individual sheep owners are 

 paying as high as $35,000 a year 

 tribute. 



If it were not for the fact that 

 the coyote is the shrewdest and 

 most carfeful beast that infests the 

 Oregon prairies, he would now be 

 in the class with the American 

 buffalo. But his cleverness has 

 kept him up through a terrible 

 struggle, until today he is almost 

 as serious a pest as he was 10 

 years ago, before the fight for his 

 destruction was begun. The sheep- 

 men and farmers have struggled 

 against him in every possible way, 

 the state has spent a quarter of a 

 million dollars in bounties; the 

 Federal Government has spent 

 thousands of dollars in deyising 

 ways of bringing about his de- 

 struction and yet he survives and 

 holds first place in .the list of 

 pests. 



Until the last year he confined 

 his murderous life to the plains 

 of Eastern and Central Oregon, 

 where he preyed on sheep and 

 barnyard fowl, but now he is 

 spreading out his career over the 

 cascades into the, Williamette 

 Valley, where he will be an infi- 

 nitely more serious pest than he is 

 in E'aste!m Oregon, at present. 

 The coyote is much like a dog in 

 appearance, but he is much more 

 active. He has a wonderful in- 

 stinct, which seems to, keep him 

 out of the traps, snares, pitfalls 

 and other contrivances set by 

 man. He is always on his guard 



and never can be taken without 



a hard fight. He is a coward 



when he has a chance to run, but 



he is a demon when he is cornered 



and has to put up a fight for his 

 life. 



In Eastern Oregon sheep are 

 run in bands of 1500 to 2500 and it 

 is here that the coyote gets in his 

 work of destruction. These 

 bands of sheep are generally herd- 

 ed by one or more men and from 

 one to half a dozen dogs. Fre- 

 quently a band of from 20 to 100 

 sheep will get separated from the 

 main herd and vfander back out of 

 sight of the herder. If this band 

 of sheen is not brought back to the 

 main herd before night there is 

 absolutely no chance of their sur- 

 jviving tint^l morning. One co- 

 yote has been known to kill as 

 many as 75 _ sheep in one night. 

 He cuts their throats for the lust 

 of killing. He seems to have a 

 mania for murder and so kills the 

 sheep by the dozens merely for 

 the pleasure of the thing. A sheep 

 that is not killed by the coyote 

 outright will die if the animal 

 bites him. This probably is more 

 because of fright than poison, al- 

 though the poison theory is held 

 by some. 



A coyote will have a range of 

 from 25 to 30 miles which he will 

 cover once every twenty-four 

 hours. When a band of sheep 

 comes into his range he gets near 

 by and waits for an opportunity 

 to pick one of the animals and 

 murder it. Sometimes coyotes 

 stay in bands and follow herds of 

 sheep. In such cases they are al- 

 ways on the lookout for a chance 

 to grab one of the flock. Anoth- 

 er trick is for the coyote to hide 

 behind clumps of sage brush and 

 wait until a herd of sheep grazes 

 up to him, when he jumps out, 

 kills one or two of the sheep and 

 makes his escape. 



