THE WOLF QUESTION. 



377 



of the wolves would be to offer a bounty 

 high enough to justify men hunting them, 

 as a business. I have killed a number of 

 wolves at different times. They are difficult 

 to poison as they prefer to kill their own 

 game; but are fond of horse meat, and at 

 the present price of horses, could be poi- 

 soned if the bounty were large enough. 

 The great trouble with bounties has always 

 been that the men who earn them, are 

 forced to sell their certificates for much less 

 than face value, so that while the State or 

 county might put a $10 bounty on these ani- 

 mals, men who would hunt them, if they 

 thought they could get the full amount, 

 would not bother with them when they 

 know they could only get 50 to 80 cents on 

 the dollar for their certificates, and might 

 not be able to sell them at all. 



Young wolves can be smoked out of their 

 dens, in spring, but the old ones will often 

 stay in the hole until suffocated by the 

 smoke. J. M. Campbell, Buford, Colo. 



FROM THE BIG HORN MOUNTAINS. 



Ten Sleep, Wyo. 



Editor Recreation: I am glad to see 

 someone take hold of this wolf problem. 

 They are getting very troublesome and 

 numerous in this part of the country. Yes- 

 terday I found a 2 year old steer of mine, 

 that had been killed by them the night be- 

 fore. This makes the 3rd one they have 

 killed for me in the past 6 months, that I 

 know of, and probably several others have 

 been killed that I have not found. My 

 neighbors are complaining of the wolves, 

 and have all lost more or less stock by 

 them. Still we are not bothered so badly 

 here, as stockmen in other parts of the 

 State. 



I know of 23 head of my cattle having 

 been killed in the past 6 years. At the rate 

 the wolves are increasing, unless something 

 is done to rid us of them, they are going to 

 be a great scourge to the stock industry, 

 in this country. 



The mountain lion is another animal that 

 does a great deal of damage to stock and 

 game, in this country. 



- The wolf is hard to trap or poison, and 

 this makes it difficult to get rid of them. 

 They seldom eat a second time on a car- 

 cass they have killed; but generally kill a 

 fresh animal for each meal. 



I here submit answers to your questions 

 in their order: 



1. Where are you located? 



At Ten Sleep, Bighorn county, Wyo. 



2. Are gray wolves troublesome in your 

 region? 



Very. 



3. What do they destroy? Horses? Cat- 

 tle? Sheep? 



All three. 



4. About what amount of damage should 



you estimate they do in a year, in your 

 county or range? 



In my judgment $5,000 a year would be 

 a low estimate for our range, or say within 

 25 miles square. 



5. Did you ever know of a gray wolf kill- 

 ing or harming a human being? 



No; but have heard of such cases, in- 

 directly. 



6. Are wolves increasing in numbers? 

 Yes. 



7. Have you any reason to believe wolves 

 can signal across country, and so tell each 

 other what parts are dangerous, or where 

 the hunting is good? 



I don't think they can. 



8. What is the average and the greatest 

 weight and measure of a wolf, according to 

 your certain knowledge? 



I never weighed one, so cannot say. 



9. Do you consider the coyote a nui- 

 sance; or do you consider the harm done in 

 killing lambs, etc., more than balanced by 

 the good they do in keeping down gophers, 

 ground squirrels, etc.? 



I think them a nuisance, and they should 

 be gotten rid of. 



10. What do you consider the best means 

 — legislative and practical — of dealing with 

 the wolf question? 



Our State Legislature should place a 

 bounty of $6 a head on wolves, and $1 on 

 coyotes. As it is now our State pays a 

 bounty of $4 on grown wolves and 75 cents 

 on wolf pups. This is one of the most ab- 

 surd bounty laws I ever heard of. 



Milo Burke. 



FROM THE BIG HORN COUNTRY. 



Meeteetse, Wyo. 

 Editor Recreation: I take pleasure in 

 sending you answers to the various ques- 

 tions on the wolf plague. 



1. In Bighorn county, Wyoming. 



2. Yes. 



3. Cattle and horses; few if any sheep. 



4. One wolf kills one yearling (cattle) a 

 week. A yearling is worth $15; therefore 

 one wolf destrops $780 worth of cattle a 

 year. I estimate the number of wolves in 

 Bighorn county at 500; therefore our coun- 

 ty suffers a loss of $390,000 a year. 



5. I never knew of a case of this kind. 



6. Yes. 



7. I do not think they can. 



8. Have never measured or weighed a 

 wolf. 



9. Coyotes should not be wholly exter- 

 minated, but merely kept down. The value 

 of the few calves or lambs they kill is over- 

 balanced by the good the coyotes do in 

 killing jack rabbits, prairie dogs and go- 

 phers. 



10. A general bounty (including Colora- 

 do, Wyoming, Nebraska, Dakota and Mon- 

 tana) of at least $15 a head on grey wolves, 



