194 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 



The farmer suffers not only 

 from loss of sheep, but also from 

 barnyard fowls, calves, pigs and 

 even colts. Many farmers have 

 lost bands of calves by allowing 

 them to stay out over night. A 

 litter of young pigs is one of the 

 favorite dishes of the coyote. He 

 Tvill creep into a pig pen in the 

 night and kill as many as a dozen 

 pigs in a few minutes. He catch- 

 es poultry by lying in wait in the 

 brush near a farm house. He has 

 been known to lie crouched up in 

 .a clump of brush for hours at a 

 time waiting for a chicken to for- 

 age near enough for him to 

 grab it without endangering his 

 own life by getting within gun 

 range of the farmer. The coyote 

 is fond of eggs and is a very sly 

 nest robber. 



Sheepmen suffer their greatest 

 loss of sheep in the lambing time, 

 when it is necessary to let ^ the 

 ewes stop on the range while the 

 young lambs are being born, and 

 are getting strong enough to 

 graze with ,the rest of the herd. 

 'It is necessary for the sheep own- 

 ers to build pens in which to keep 

 ewes and lambs. This more 

 than doubles the expense of lamb- 

 ing and even at that the coyote 

 sometimes get through the fences 

 and slaughter the entire herd of 

 ewes and lambs. The only safe 

 means is that employed by the 

 most of the large sheep owners is 

 of employing men to surround the 

 lambing pens and keep the co- 

 yotes away. Where four men 

 could easily take care of the lamb- 

 ing of a big band of sheep the co- 

 yote makes it necessary to em- 

 ploy more. 



Dan Smythe, of Smythe Bros., 

 sheep owners of Pendleton, said 

 recently that he estimated the co- 

 yote pest to cost his firm $25,000 

 a year. This amount includes the 

 value of the sheep which are 

 slauhtered by the pest and the 

 additional cost of protecting the 

 sheep. Mr. Smythe says many 



sheepowners pay greater amounts 

 than that each year. 



Invades Williamette Valley. 



The coyote is rapidly becoming 

 a pest in the Williamette Valley 

 and it is feared that in time to 

 come he will present a very dif- 

 ficult problem for the rural peo- 

 ple to solve. Until recently he 

 was not able to cross the Cascade 

 Mountains, because in the stretch 

 of country from Eastern Oregon 

 to the Williamette Valley he could 

 find but little to eat. As the can- 

 yons and basins in the mountains 

 have been settled up the food sup- 

 ply for the coyote has been ex- 

 tended, until now it is possible 

 for him to make the entire trip 

 from Eastern Oregon to the Wil- 

 liamette Valley without going 

 hungry. Even in Multnomah 

 County the coyote is now found. 

 At Mount Scott and Gresham, 

 sheepman have lost sheep withiil 

 the last few months. One farmer 

 recently lost a band of thirty 

 sheep worth $20 each. This was 

 near Mount Scott. 



West of the Cascades the coyote 

 has a big advantage in his favor 

 which, with his cunning, makes 

 him a pest that is almost impos- 

 sible to destroy. He has the thick 

 underbrush, which affords him a 

 good place to keep out of range 

 of the gunners and dogs. As for 

 traps, he knows how to evade 

 them, and he knows how to avert 

 most of the other contrivances 

 made for his destruction. So 

 with his development in the Wil- 

 liamette Valley he wil present a 

 serious problem. 



West of the Cascades sheep are 

 not run as they are in Eastern 

 Oregon. Instead of bands of from 

 500 to 2500, they range in bands 

 of from 25 to 50 and have no herd- 

 er. This makes them easy prey 

 for. the coyote. At present the 

 coyote has cut so much of a figure 

 in the Williamette Valley that it 

 is estimated 50^000 more sheep 

 could be grazed here if he had not 



