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RECREA TION. 



FROM MONTANA. 



Anaconda, Mont. 

 Editor Recreation: Back in the 70's, 

 when countless herds of buffalo covered 

 Dakota and Montana and when the Indians 

 reigned supreme, the coyotes and buffalo 

 wolves were plentiful, easily killed, and ex- 

 ercised no such cunning as is attributed to 

 them now. It was no uncommon thing for 

 a wolfer to strychnine 40 to 60 large wolves, 

 and as many coyotes, in a single night. 

 This could be done until about '83, when 

 the buffalo were practically no more. 



Then the cattlemen put out so much poi- 

 son, to exterminate the pests, that the 

 wolves, from being gluttons, and carrion 

 eaters of the lowest order, have acquired 

 tastes that are quite fastidious. In fact it 

 is now almost impossible to poison a wolf. 

 I put out 8 ounces of good strychnine last 

 winter and got only 8 coyotes. 



The wolves and coyotes would eat the 

 drop baits, and sometimes whole carcasses 

 of cattle or horses; but few would die. I 

 would follow up their trails, in the snow, 

 and find where they had staggered about 

 and vomited the poison. Then they would 

 soon recover. 



In conversation with 3 coyote men, last 

 fall, from Northern Montana, they told me 

 they had frequently watched coyotes eat poi- 

 soned meat. When they got sick they 

 would immediately stagger about in search 

 of a weed which, on eating, neutralized the 

 poison and Richard was himself again. I 

 do not vouch for the truth of their story but 

 it sounds plausible. 



Few coyotes were killed in Western Mon- 

 tana, last winter, because it does not now 

 pay to follow them. 



Trapping and shooting are the best meth- 

 ods of exterminating wolves and coyotes. 

 Two years ago, last spring, I shot 37 coy- 

 otes in one week. The Montana bounty is 

 $3 a head, payable every quarter — if there is 

 money on hand. There is always more or 

 less difficulty in getting a settlement and 

 coyote hunters have lost interest in hunting 

 down the animals and then being compelled 

 to sell their bounty certificates to the bank 

 at 50 per cent, discount. 



I will now answer Mr. Thompson's ques- 

 tions in their order: 



1st. There are not many gray wolves here. 

 It is too near the mountains; but coyotes 

 are plentiful and troublesome. All ranch- 

 ers and cattlemen who have 50 to 200 head 

 of cattle, lose 5 to 20 head of calves every 

 spring. These, at 3 years of age would 

 bring $40 a head. Hence the wolves cause 

 a clear loss of $200 to $800 to the ranch. 

 The losses of cattlemen, who keep large 

 herds, run into thousands of dollars every 

 year. 



These varmints also destroy a great many 

 sheep and lambs. Farther North and East 

 of here they kill a great many colts every 



season. So, in the aggregate, the loss runs 

 into the millions every year. 



2d. I have never known of a buffalo wolf, 

 or a coyote, molesting any person, with the 

 intention of holding a post mortem. The 

 gray timber wolf is said to have killed peo- 

 ple in the Minnesota and Wisconsin woods, 

 but no such cases have ever occurred on the 

 plains. 



6th. I believe wolves and coyotes are on 

 the increase during the last year or so. At 

 least they hold their own. 



7th. Although wolves and coyotes are 

 very cunning I do not think they can or 

 do, signal across the country to other 

 wolves. 



8th. Have never weighed or measured a 

 wolf. Judging from the size of their howl 

 they weigh a ton. 



9th. The coyote is a greater menace to 

 stock than the wolves, and in a year destroys 

 more young game than all the hunters and 

 Indians put together. He never overlooks 

 any bets in the shape of young calves, 

 sheep, chickens, or game. 



10th. A $10 bounty on coyotes and 

 "wolves, payable whenever certificate is pre- 

 sented, would practically exterminate these 

 animals in less than 2 years. There are 

 many thousands of dollars worth of State 

 bounty certificates, issued years ago, that 

 remain unpaid. Now where is the induce- 

 ment for wolfers to rustle for scalps? Gray 

 wolves are far more shy than, a coyote, and 

 far scarcer. They frequently kill grown 

 horses and cattle, while the coyote, like the 

 poor, is always around us. So, in my opin- 

 ion, based on years of observation, the coy- 

 ote commits far more depredations in a 

 season than Mr. Wolf ever dreamed of. 



Vic S™'*h. 



FROM THE BIG HORN BASIN. 



Editor Recreation: At request of Gov- 

 ernor Richards, I will tell you what I know 

 about the wolf question. My experience is 

 limited, but what I shall say is at least prac- 

 tical — not theoretical. 



1st. I am located in Big Horn Co., 

 Wyoming, in what is known as the Big 

 Horn Basin, at the foot of the Big Horn 

 range of mountains, on the West side, about 

 90 miles South and West from Buffalo, 

 Wyoming, and 125 miles from Casper, 

 Wyoming, in a Northeasterly direction. 



2d. Gray wolves are becoming very 

 troublesome in this locality 



3d. They destroy cattle, horses, sheep and 

 game of nearly all kinds. 



4th. As to the amount of damage done 

 in a year it is a hard matter to estimate. 

 This I am sure of, where stock is properly 

 taken care of, the wolves are by far the 

 greater source of loss. We have had 2 



