146 WATCHED BY WILD ANIMALS 
hour. As they were not eaten, the killing was 
apparently for the amusement of the wolves. 
In wolf-infested cattle territory it is common 
for one or more cows to guard the calves while 
the other cows go to water. At a ranch where I 
made my headquarters for a few days, the plan 
was being tried of equipping every thorough- 
bred calf with a bell. This practice proved only 
temporarily effective in keeping wolves away. 
In the cattle country you will find the wolfer 
—a picturesque character engaged in the pe- 
culiar occupation of trying to exterminate wolves. 
His equipment consists of a rifle, traps, and poi- 
son. A few wolfers follow their occupation 
the year round. Many of them are free trap- 
pers—some of them old-timers who have seen 
better trapping days. 
When a wolfer meets another wolfer, or when 
he is discussing business with stockmen and 
others who are interested, his talk is likely to 
run to “Three Toes,” a wolf that killed so many 
cattle on the S. S. Bar Ranch; or to “Old Two 
Toes,”’ which John Jones succeeded in trapping. 
He is eager to hear how Smith trapped the last 
wolf. Just as the prospector has faith that he 
will find the mythical lost mine, many wolfers 
firmly believe that they will yet compound a 
scent which will please the nostrils of the most 
wary wolf and lure him to his doom. 
