﻿18 
  COYOTES 
  IN 
  THEIR 
  ECONOMIC 
  RELATIONS. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  evident 
  that 
  the 
  discouraging 
  condition 
  of 
  the 
  sheep 
  industry 
  

   in 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  is 
  not 
  due 
  to 
  a 
  lack 
  of 
  favorable 
  climate 
  nor 
  to 
  

   the 
  absence 
  of 
  suitable 
  pasturage. 
  Neither 
  is 
  it 
  due 
  to 
  low 
  prices 
  of 
  

   wool 
  and 
  mutton. 
  Indeed, 
  in 
  our 
  markets 
  mutton 
  is 
  coming 
  to 
  be 
  

   more 
  and 
  more 
  in 
  favor, 
  and 
  this 
  growing 
  demand 
  may 
  be 
  one 
  of 
  

   the 
  causes 
  for 
  the 
  present 
  drain 
  upon 
  the 
  flocks 
  and 
  the 
  decrease 
  in 
  

   their 
  numbers; 
  but 
  the 
  chief 
  discouragement 
  of 
  the 
  industry 
  un- 
  

   doubtedly 
  lies 
  in 
  the 
  depredations 
  of 
  worthless 
  dogs 
  and 
  coj'otes. 
  

  

  The 
  dog 
  question 
  is 
  a 
  serious 
  one, 
  especially 
  in 
  thickly 
  settled 
  parts 
  

   of 
  the 
  country, 
  but 
  the 
  evil 
  is 
  best 
  remedied 
  by 
  a 
  resort 
  to 
  taxation. 
  

   The 
  tax 
  on 
  dogs 
  should 
  be 
  sufficiently 
  high 
  to 
  put 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  worth- 
  

   less 
  ones 
  out 
  of 
  existence. 
  

  

  MEANS 
  OF 
  DESTRUCTION. 
  

  

  The 
  coyote 
  problem 
  is 
  a 
  serious 
  one. 
  Various 
  methods 
  of 
  dealing 
  

   with 
  it 
  have 
  been 
  in 
  vogue 
  since 
  coyotes 
  first 
  began 
  to 
  like 
  mutton. 
  

   None 
  of 
  the 
  methods 
  have 
  been 
  entirely 
  satisfactory, 
  and 
  some 
  are 
  

   signal 
  failures. 
  All 
  of 
  them 
  combined 
  have 
  resulted 
  in 
  a 
  partial 
  

   check 
  on 
  the 
  increase 
  of 
  coyotes 
  in 
  most 
  parts 
  of 
  their 
  range. 
  Poison 
  

   has 
  probably 
  killed 
  the 
  greatest 
  number 
  of 
  adult 
  animals, 
  and 
  in 
  some 
  

   parts 
  of 
  Mexico 
  has 
  almost 
  destroyed 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  species, 
  but 
  no 
  such 
  

   success 
  has 
  attended 
  its 
  use 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  

  

  POISONING. 
  

  

  Strychnine 
  has 
  always 
  been 
  a 
  favorite 
  weapon 
  of 
  hunters 
  for 
  wolf 
  

   pelts 
  and 
  bounties. 
  A 
  half 
  century 
  ago 
  hunters 
  on 
  the 
  prairies 
  killed 
  

   the 
  buffalo 
  for 
  its 
  pelt, 
  and 
  added 
  to 
  their 
  income 
  by 
  killing 
  the 
  wolves 
  

   that 
  followed 
  the 
  daily 
  slaughter. 
  A 
  little 
  strychnine 
  inserted 
  in 
  the 
  

   skinned 
  carcass 
  of 
  a 
  buffalo 
  enabled 
  them 
  to 
  secure 
  many 
  pelts 
  of 
  the 
  

   gray 
  wolf 
  and 
  occasionally 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  co} 
  T 
  ote; 
  but 
  not 
  often 
  the 
  lat- 
  

   ter: 
  he 
  was 
  regarded 
  as 
  much 
  too 
  shrewd 
  to 
  be 
  taken 
  by 
  ordinary 
  

   methods 
  of 
  poisoning. 
  Besides, 
  the 
  pelt 
  was 
  small 
  and 
  not 
  suffi- 
  

   ciently 
  valuable 
  in 
  comparison 
  to 
  warrant 
  special 
  efforts 
  to 
  secure 
  it. 
  

   Even 
  in 
  1819 
  Thomas 
  Say, 
  who 
  first 
  gave 
  a 
  scientific 
  name 
  to 
  a 
  coyote, 
  

   found 
  this 
  animal 
  more 
  abundant 
  than 
  the 
  gray 
  wolf> 
  Yet 
  the 
  

   number 
  killed 
  for 
  their 
  pelts 
  has 
  never 
  been 
  great. 
  

  

  As 
  an 
  illustration 
  of 
  the 
  coyote's 
  shrewdness 
  in 
  avoiding 
  poisoned 
  

   baits, 
  a 
  farmer 
  in 
  Oklahoma 
  gave 
  the 
  writer 
  the 
  following 
  experi- 
  

   ence: 
  After 
  butchering 
  some 
  hogs 
  he 
  poisoned 
  a 
  hogskin 
  and 
  left 
  

   it 
  with 
  other 
  offal 
  for 
  a 
  coyote 
  that 
  nightly 
  prowled 
  about 
  his 
  prem- 
  

   ises. 
  In 
  the 
  morning 
  everything 
  but 
  the 
  poisoned 
  skin 
  had 
  been 
  

   cleared 
  away. 
  He 
  left 
  it 
  two 
  more 
  nights, 
  but 
  it 
  remained 
  untouched. 
  

   Thinking 
  that 
  the 
  animal 
  would 
  not 
  eat 
  the 
  poisoned 
  bait, 
  he 
  buried 
  

  

  a 
  Long's 
  Expedition 
  to 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Mountains, 
  p. 
  168, 
  1823. 
  

  

  