208 



RECREA TION. 



that it is not necessary for them to inform 

 each other. 



I do not know the size of the largest dog 

 wolves that are found; but think some 

 specimens have been found that were about 

 8 feet from tip of nose to tip of tail. The 

 largest of them are certainly very fierce 

 and formidable animals. 



I think coyotes are more than a nui- 

 sance; and by many people they are sup- 

 posed to kill almost as many calves as grey 

 wolves, although they cannot kill the larg- 

 er animals. 



The proper way of dealing with the wolf 

 question would be for the state authorities, 

 of a number of neighboring states, to agree 

 on a large bounty; the rate to be increased 

 as the number of wolves diminished. I 

 have made strong efforts to secure such 

 united action; but it is impossible to do it. 

 The majority of the members of the legis- 

 latures, of North and South Dakota, come 

 from the agricultural districts, in the East- 

 ern portions of those states, and they will 

 not consent to such a measure. Nor can a 

 sufficient bounty be secured, either in Wy- 

 oming or Montana. To day Montana pays 

 a bounty of $3 on wolves, or coyotes, pups 

 and all. Wyoming pays $4 a head for 

 grown wolves, and 75 cents for pups. I 

 believe the only way to exterminate wolves 

 would be for a general and sufficient bounty 

 to be paid, in cash, at convenient points; 

 and to prevent fraud the pelts should be 

 taken up, on payment of the bounty. 



In Montana we pay 2 hunters a private 

 bounty of $2 apiece for grown wolves and 

 $1 on pups, in addition to the state bounty. 

 In Wyoming we pay the 2 hunters $25 a 

 month each, with subsistence, in addition 

 to which they get the state bounty. 



I am doubtful if any means can be found 

 to improve greatly the situation as it ex- 

 ists to-day, unless the general government 

 could be induced to take hold of the mat- 

 ter, which I suppose is doubtful. 



When representatives of the larger cattle 

 companies have attempted to bring forward 

 any bill, in the state legislatures, for the 

 payment of large bounties of $8 or $10, the 

 cry has immediately gone up that the cor- 

 porations were trying to get money out 

 of the state treasury for their own benefit. 

 The mere suggestion that any corporation 

 can get any benefit from any proposed law is 

 enough to condemn it, in the eyes of many 

 voters of these states; and it is always 

 an effective war-cry for the cheap politi- 

 cian, who finds plenty of hearers. 



For these reasons I do not think a law 

 that would really be effective in extermi- 

 nating wolves can be passed, in a number 

 of neighboring states, and if it is not passed 

 in all such states the wolves would be 

 taken across the line into any state which 

 does pay any large bounty. 



For the last 3 seasons my own plan has 



been to 'keep up continuous hunting, on 

 our own range, in an effort to induce the 

 wolves to migrate to other places. I ad- 

 mit this is not liberal, or public-spirited; 

 but on the other hand, it is not intelligent 

 or progressive for the voters of these 

 states to fail to bring up proper legisla- 

 tion. A large bounty is the only effective 

 thing, because that makes hunters of a great 

 many people; and it puts into the field a 

 large number of hunters who will exter- 

 minate the wolves. 



In our own experience we have not been 

 able, in hunting with dogs, to catch or de- 

 stroy an appreciable number of grown 

 wolves. They are too strong and well fed, 

 and have too much endurance, to be taken 

 and killed by dogs, without the greatest 

 difficulty. The only thing we can do, that 

 cuts much of a figure, is to trace the bitches 

 to their dens and secure the pups. 



Poison has been extensively used over 

 the entire country, and I have lost many 

 good dogs — deerhounds, foxhounds and 

 bloodhounds — from poison. The baits that 

 the wolves will not take keep for years, in 

 this climate, the strychnine remaining in 

 the hollow of a bone-, perhaps, that a dog 

 is likely at any time to pick up and gnaw, 

 and thus to kill himself. 



The reasons for the extreme difficulty in 

 killing wolves in the chase, either with 

 deerhounds or foxhounds, are the elevation 

 of the country, the aridity of the atmos- 

 phere and the scarcity of water, so that the 

 dogs suffer extremely from thirst. Much 

 of the country, where the chase takes place, 

 is extremely rough and the deerhounds and 

 greyhounds, at the end of a 2 mile stretch, 

 give out completely; while the wolf has 

 still bottom enough to last him a long dis- 

 tance. 



Our men have made a continuous chase 

 as long as 15 miles, the wolf making a cir- 

 cuit to get back to the starting point; but 

 the wolf was enabled to do this, and finally 

 got away, while men and dogs were nearly 

 on and close to him. 



Foxhounds do not dare to fight wolves. 

 Sometimes the wolves kill them with the 

 greatest ease. Then again, when the wolf 

 and the dogs become completely exhaust- 

 ed, the wolf sits down, with the dogs about 

 him; but they dare not touch him. When 

 sufficiently rested the wolf runs again and 

 the chase is resumed. In fact we have not 

 an animal in the shape of a dog that is 

 strong enough, fierce enough, swift 

 enough and that has enough endurance 

 to run down and kill grown dog wolves. 

 Our best dogs are only occasionally suc- 

 cessful. 



Some wolves are trapped, some are shot, 

 some are roped by cowboys, and a number 

 killed by poison, but still there are plenty 

 left. 



R. M. Allen, Mgr. Ames Cattle Co. 



