﻿26 
  COYOTES 
  IN 
  THEIR 
  ECONOMIC 
  RELATIONS. 
  

  

  them, 
  and 
  in 
  a 
  country 
  with 
  wolves 
  as 
  plentiful 
  as 
  they 
  are 
  at 
  Chatta- 
  

   nooga, 
  would 
  be 
  far 
  more 
  conclusive 
  in 
  establishing 
  a 
  safe 
  basis 
  for 
  

   practical 
  recommendations 
  to 
  farmers. 
  

  

  The 
  writer 
  interviewed 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  farmers 
  in 
  Kansas 
  who 
  have 
  had 
  

   experience 
  with 
  poultry 
  and 
  farm 
  animals 
  in 
  coyote-infested 
  country. 
  

   Several 
  of 
  them 
  had 
  for 
  some 
  years 
  been 
  using 
  for 
  corrals 
  and 
  small 
  

   pastures 
  woven-wire 
  fences, 
  and 
  had 
  found 
  those 
  from 
  57 
  to 
  60 
  

   inches 
  high 
  entirely 
  coyote-proof. 
  These 
  fences 
  have 
  triangular 
  

   meshes 
  and 
  are 
  of 
  sufficient 
  weight 
  to 
  be 
  suitable 
  for 
  all 
  kinds 
  of 
  

   stock. 
  Such 
  a 
  fence, 
  if 
  set 
  with 
  the 
  lower 
  edge 
  on 
  the 
  ground 
  and 
  

   anchored 
  down 
  where 
  necessary, 
  can 
  safely 
  be 
  recommended 
  as 
  

   coyote-proof. 
  Their 
  cost, 
  however, 
  is 
  possibly 
  too 
  great 
  to 
  bring 
  

   them 
  into 
  general 
  use 
  for 
  sheep 
  pastures. 
  Where 
  land 
  is 
  valuable 
  

   and 
  pastures 
  of 
  the 
  best, 
  they 
  will 
  prove 
  economical, 
  for 
  they 
  have 
  

   the 
  merit 
  of 
  being 
  both 
  dog-proof 
  and 
  coyote-proof. 
  Dogs, 
  both 
  

   large 
  and 
  small, 
  that 
  by 
  chance 
  get 
  inside 
  the 
  inclosures 
  are 
  unable 
  to 
  

   get 
  out, 
  and 
  have 
  to 
  be 
  let 
  out 
  by 
  the 
  gate. 
  

  

  Between 
  these 
  rather 
  expensive 
  fences 
  and 
  the 
  cheapest 
  form 
  that 
  

   may 
  be 
  found 
  efficient 
  many 
  grades 
  may 
  exist. 
  In 
  experiments 
  to 
  de- 
  

   termine 
  the 
  efficiency 
  of 
  any 
  form 
  it 
  is 
  necessary 
  to 
  consider 
  the 
  famil- 
  

   iarity 
  of 
  the 
  animals 
  with 
  fences 
  in 
  general. 
  In 
  a 
  new 
  country 
  a 
  

   very 
  simple 
  fence 
  might 
  be 
  ample 
  at 
  first 
  to 
  keep 
  out 
  wolves, 
  but 
  

   ultimately 
  would 
  prove 
  insufficient. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  T. 
  T. 
  Hoole, 
  of 
  Cape 
  Colony, 
  Africa, 
  in 
  the 
  paper 
  already 
  

   quoted, 
  gives 
  the 
  following 
  experience 
  in 
  determining 
  upon 
  a 
  jackal- 
  

   proof 
  fence 
  : 
  

  

  My 
  first 
  importation 
  of 
  2 
  foot 
  6 
  inch 
  netting 
  served 
  its 
  purpose 
  for 
  a 
  year 
  or 
  

   more, 
  when 
  I 
  found 
  the 
  jackals 
  as 
  troublesome 
  as 
  ever. 
  The 
  addition 
  of 
  a 
  

   single 
  barbed 
  wire 
  assisted 
  for 
  a 
  time 
  ; 
  but 
  after 
  some 
  years 
  of 
  experience 
  and 
  

   comparing 
  notes. 
  I 
  found 
  that 
  nothing 
  short 
  of 
  a 
  3-foot 
  netting 
  and 
  four 
  barbed 
  

   wires 
  would 
  be 
  effective. 
  I 
  have 
  given 
  the 
  above 
  particulars 
  of 
  my 
  experience 
  

   as 
  a 
  warning 
  to 
  the 
  inexperienced, 
  that 
  half 
  measures 
  are 
  simply 
  a 
  waste 
  of 
  

   money 
  and 
  that 
  badly 
  erected 
  fences, 
  although 
  effective 
  for 
  a 
  time, 
  will 
  end 
  in 
  

   disappointment 
  and 
  failure. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Hoole 
  has 
  18 
  miles 
  of 
  the 
  fence 
  just 
  described, 
  while 
  a 
  neigh- 
  

   boring 
  stockman 
  has 
  45 
  miles 
  built. 
  The 
  cost, 
  including 
  labor, 
  when 
  

   built 
  of 
  the 
  best 
  material 
  — 
  sneezewood 
  posts 
  and 
  kangaroo 
  netting 
  — 
  

   was 
  estimated 
  at 
  £106 
  per 
  mile 
  — 
  about 
  $500. 
  This 
  fence 
  was 
  de- 
  

   signed 
  for 
  ostriches, 
  cattle, 
  springboks, 
  and 
  sheep; 
  a 
  fence 
  intended 
  

   for 
  sheep 
  alone 
  could 
  be 
  built 
  for 
  less. 
  Materials 
  and 
  labor 
  are 
  both 
  

   much 
  more 
  expensive 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  A 
  fence 
  similar 
  to 
  

   that 
  described 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Hoole 
  could 
  be 
  built 
  in 
  most 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  West 
  

   for 
  about 
  $200 
  to 
  $250 
  per 
  mile. 
  

  

  A 
  writer 
  in 
  the 
  Nor' 
  West 
  Farmer 
  states 
  that 
  when 
  he 
  first 
  began 
  

   sheep 
  raising 
  in 
  Manitoba 
  a 
  2-strand 
  barbed-wire 
  fence 
  was 
  a 
  com- 
  

   plete 
  barrier 
  to 
  the 
  coyotes, 
  but 
  that 
  in 
  less 
  than 
  two 
  years 
  they 
  

  

  