NATURAL JIT STORY. 



475 



RAISING COYOTES IN THE NATIONAL PARK. 



Gardiner, Mont. 



Editor Recreation: In a letter Mr. 

 Hofer, speaks of " Antelopes being driven 

 out of the Park by the eoyotes." The Park 

 has for years been a breeding ground for 

 wolves. The superintendents have made no 

 attempt to exterminate them until this win- 

 ter, and refused permission to trappers who 

 would gladly have waged war against them 

 for the profit derived from the sale of the 

 skins. 



The large flats South of the Gardiner 

 river have been a winter feeding ground 

 for antelopes, and it has been no uncom- 

 mon occurrence for coyotes to run them 

 right into the town. Hundreds have been 

 killed in this way, and they have de- 

 creased in number each year; while their 

 enemies have increased, and spread over 

 the States adjoining the Park to the great 

 detriment of the stockmen; so much so, 

 that one of the stockgrowers' associations 

 has offered an additional bounty to that of 

 the State. The reason offered for not per- 

 mitting baits to be put out was that if men 

 were allowed to go into the Park for such 

 purpose, " they might kill game." There 

 are a large number of licensed guides living 

 adjacent to the Park; men of good char- 

 acter, who would like to earn a little money 

 in this way during the winter. Permission 

 granted them to trap wolves would also be 

 a protection to the game against poachers, 

 who go in and out of the Park as they 

 choose. It is strange that the stockgrowers' 

 associations of Montana, Nevada, Idaho, 

 and Wyoming, have not taken action in this 

 matter. They are taxed to pay bounties for 

 wolves which are bred under Government 

 protection. The superintendent of the 

 Park gets much excited when an antelope 

 is killed outside of the boundaries by a citi- 

 zen of this town; yet where one has been 

 killed thus, 20 have been killed or left man- 

 gled and dying by coyotes, between the 

 town and the Gardiner bridge, and South 

 of that stream. A few days ago I saw a 

 band of over 100, South of the Gardiner 

 river and between 200 and 300 on the foot- 

 hills, West. A year ago there were prob- 

 ably more than double that number seen 

 almost daily near the town. As near as I 

 can judge some 70 or 80 were killed by 

 hunters between the Northern boundary 

 and Cinnabar basin. It would probably be 

 safe to say that, within 2 miles of this town, 

 between 150 and 200 were destroyed by the 

 coyotes. . J. W. Hulse. 



AN INDIAN'S DISCOVERY. 

 About 4 weeks ago, in company with 2 

 other Indians, I was out in the woods, 

 stalking deer and turkeys. I have been in 

 the woods a great deal and had talks with 

 many old hunters, but on that hunt I dis- 

 covered something I never heard of before, 

 and that was deer tracks on a rock! 



About a mile from where we camped, I 

 was going along a somewhat open ravine 

 that ran off of a mountain, and in going 

 down this hollow I saw a Hat rock, about 

 3 feet square, with some marks on it. I 

 went to it, and on a closer examination 

 found where a deer, on a full run, had 

 jumped with one foot on the rock, sinking 

 its hoofs about 2 inches into the hard sand- 

 stone. In making its spring for the next 

 jump it chipped off 2 inches of rock at the 

 front point of the track. This place, where 

 the rock was chipped off, looked to be 

 fresh, and was fresh as far as surface of the 

 rock was concerned. 



The track is as plain as any track ever 

 seen in mud; and not only that, but within 

 about 8 inches of the deer track were 3 

 other tracks on the same rock. They ap- 

 peared to be a colt's tracks. These latter 

 tracks were a little over one inch in diam- 

 eter and about % of an inch deep in the 

 side. About this brook we saw more deer 

 signs than anywhere else in 10 miles of wild 

 country. It seems to be greatly frequented 

 by them. I took my 2 companions to the 

 spot, and showed them the tracks. They 

 were amazed at them, and said they had 

 never before seen or heard of anything like 

 them. One of the men has been a good 

 hunter for 50 years, and has hunted all over 

 the Indian Territory. Perhaps some of the 

 scientific readers of Recreation can ex- 

 plain the whole matter. 



Now, Brother Shields, how do you, or 

 anyone else, account for these tracks? 

 Recollect they are on a mountain, in what 

 might be called a brook running off the 

 rock. I saw other tracks of colts that were 

 larger, and other deer tracks on other 

 rocks, in this same hollow, near those first 

 discovered. 



Charles Gibson, Eufala, I. T. 



SOWING WILD RICE. 



Wild rice seed, 2 or 3 years old, will grow 

 as well as fresher seed, if properly planted. 

 On November 25th, some 12 years ago, I 

 sowed 10 bushels <of 3 year old seed, on a 

 pond near this town. The water froze that 

 night; but the rice came up in the spring 

 and by September there was a good crop. 

 Wild rice is self sowing, and once started 

 will perpetuate itself. Nothing will kill it 

 but lack of water, though unusually high 

 water may prevent it from maturing seed. 

 The pond, above mentioned is, every fall, 

 one great bed of rice, 200 yards long and 

 150, wide. 



Sow rice on the water, and where water 

 always stands, and there will be no trouble 

 about its growing. Soak the seed for 12 or 

 15 hours, that it may sink more readily. In 

 open marshy places, sow in from 6 inches 

 to 5 feet of water, over a soft mud bottom. 

 On lakes, sow in bays and coves. On run- 

 ning: streams it should be sown near the 



