238 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 
industry. In many parts of the West the rais- 
ing of sheep has been greatly deterred on this 
account; and woeful stories of destruction are 
on record. It was this state of affairs that led 
the Biological Survey a few years ago to make 
special studies of the coyote situation. 
“It is evident that the wealth of any State can be 
materially increased if it is possible everywhere to 
keep small flocks of sheep. Flocks increase rapidly 
under’ favorable conditions and good management, 
and the cost of keeping is small when herders can 
be dispensed with. The double product, wool and 
mutton, usually places the profit of handling sheep 
above that of cattle or horses. The gains also come 
oftener, since sheep mature in a year, while cattle 
and horses require three. 
“In the region about Seguin, Tex., according to 
Vernon Bailey, chief field-naturalist of the Biological 
Survey, no sheep are kept, because of the abundance 
of coyotes. The farmers admit the advantage of in-. 
troducing sheep, but the fear of coyotes deters them 
from the experiment. Similar conditions prevail 
’ over large areas in many parts of the West. The 
number of sheep in the United States has been de- 
creasing during the past two years [1904-5], while 
the price of wool has been excellent and the demand 
for mutton steadily increasing. Montana, with an 
area of 146,000 square miles, leads the States in the 
number of sheep kept, which is 5,638,967. Yet Eng- 
