THE WOLF QUESTION, 



127 



heavily discounted, should appear in the 

 matter. 



I would recommend a $10 bounty on old 

 and young alike, male and female. If not 

 paid on the young, the litter is usually hand 

 reared, till old enough to bring the highest 

 bounty. If the sexes could be distinguished 

 at a distance, it would be sensible to offer 

 more for a female; bu: they cannot. So 

 make it even $10, all around. If there is 

 absolute proof that this is more than the 

 public treasury can stand, make it $5 for 

 the first 2 or 3 years. Then when the 

 wolves become scarcer, raise it, by steps, 

 to $10. Of this, the state should pay half 

 and the county half; and to make sure that 

 it would be paid, I would make scalp cer- 

 tificates a legal tender for taxes. 



I know this has been tried, in some parts, 

 and has failed; but it was because the trial 

 was local, and the municipality was 

 swamped with foreign scalps. We may re- 

 member here that Wales was quickly 

 cleared of wolves by this method, before 

 the days of guns or poisons. 



To guard against fraud, I would require 

 that the entire skin of the animal be shown. 

 This gives the wolfer more trouble, but the 

 Government must be protected, and it 

 would prevent coyotes from being passed 

 as small wolves. 



The officer in charge should cancel each 

 scalp by splitting it from between the eyes 

 to between the ears, not by destroying it, 

 or by removing any part. This would be 

 an absolute and irremediable cancellation, 

 yet would not impair the market value of 

 the skin. We should aim to make wolfing 

 as profitable as possible and the skin, di- 

 vested of the head, loses largely in value. 



There should be a duly authorized per- 

 son in each county to count and cancel 

 scalps and issue certificates. The delays 

 and expenses of going to the centre of 

 government are discouraging. The county 

 clerk would, perhaps, be the proper person. 



(3.) As to methods of destruction. 



Hounding is good sport and may be 

 fairly successful in open country, but is 

 costly. See Lieut. Edward L. Munson's 

 letter in October Recreation. 



Poisoning is usually successful in new 

 localities; but the wolves are now sus- 

 picious of it and soon learn to avoid the 

 poisonous bait. A tale oft told is that they 

 know a certain plant which is an antidote, 

 and that they fly to this when they feel 

 themselves poisoned. This widespread no- 

 tion is not without an element of truth. 

 When a wolf begins to feel " bad inside " 

 he swallows some grass, his usual vomit, 

 and is commonly saved. There are serious 

 objections to poisoning. Not only valu- 

 able dogs, but range cattle, horses, and oc- 

 casionally Indians have fallen victims to 

 its power, Another objection that the 



professional wolfer will feel is, that one 

 does not find half the wolves killed in this 

 way. Mr. R. Howe's letter, in December 

 number, is well worthy of study in this 

 connection. 



Digging out the young is all right if you 

 can locate the den; but that is largely a 

 matter of chance. 



Trapping, with steel traps, is perhaps the 

 surest way; and is not expensive. The 

 Newhouse double spring trap, Nos. 4 and 

 4^, are undoubtedly the best, and the 

 makers give, with the traps, a carefully pre- 

 pared pamphlet that explains in detail the 

 best methods of wolf trapping. (Write the 

 Oneida Community, Kenwood, N. Y.) 



But after all the professional wolfer is the 

 man we must look to for a solution of the 

 difficulty. All we need do is to make it 

 worth his while to go seriously to work, 

 and he will quickly find out, for himself, 

 which methods give the best results. 



A notion has gotten abroad that Aus- 

 tralia has been rid of rabbits by the intro- 

 duction of a disease, and that this plan may 

 also be tried on our wolves. I am sorry to 

 say this is not so. All plans to extirpate 

 the rabbit have failed and the Australians 

 have come to accept them just as we do the 

 potato bug. The only way to raise a crop, 

 in rabbity Australia, is by using the rabbit 

 proof wire netting and by being careful to 

 kill all rabbits within its bounds. 



Science is continually surprising us; but 

 I have no faith, whatever, in the disease 

 solution of the wolf question. 



(4.) Coyotes are voted a nuisance, but I 

 think a bounty of 50 cents, or not more 

 than $1 a head, is enough to offer for them. 

 One half of this should be paid by the 

 state and half by the county, on presenta- 

 tion of scalp only. The same methods of 

 pursuit answer for coyotes and wolves. 



There is always great danger in exter- 

 minating, as well as in introducing an ani- 

 mal. The balance of nature is disturbed, 

 and results wholly unexpected and ex- 

 tremely disastrous, may follow. 



I cannot foresee any ill results from the 

 extermination of the large wolves, as their 

 natural food, the large game, is gone; but 

 am not so sure about the coyotes. In cer- 

 tain regions of the Northwest, the destruc- 

 tion of the coyote has been followed by a 

 plague of jack-rabbits; in Manitoba, by a 

 plague of gophers or ground squirrels. 



Ranch owners should, therefore, take 

 means to reduce the number of coyotes, 

 rather than to wholly extirpate them. 

 Stock can be saved from the remainder by 

 increased care and vigilance. 



Owners of all kinds of stock would do 

 well to remember that wolves and coyotes 

 rarely molest animals that carry bells, and 

 are shy of approaching a bunch in which 

 one or 2 cowbells are jingling. 



