12 



RECREATION. 



by 8 wolves, and was seen on his feet and 

 struggling after the wolves had succeeded 

 in puliing his entrails from his body. In 

 this instance we were successful in poison- 

 ing 6 of the band on their return to the 

 carcass, which we filled with poison. This 

 was the most successful killing made dur- 

 ing the winter. 



"In Russia, where the conditions exist- 

 ing are similar to those of our cattle 

 ranges in Western America, after hun- 

 dreds of years of warfare we find official 

 estimates that there are still several hun- 

 dred thousand wolves, and their annual 

 damage to live stock is said to be from 

 $3,500,000 to $7,250,000. The Russian 

 government pays a reward of 10 rubles, 

 or about $7.50, for each wolf killed. 



"If it took several centuries to extermi- 

 nate wolves in the British Isles, think of 

 the energetic and systematic effort re- 

 quired in the arid portions of America, 

 where ranges exist embracing thousands 

 of square miles that will probably never 

 contain a single settlement. A country, 

 too, peculiarly adapted to the natural prop- 

 agation of wolves, together with their 

 free incursions from one section of the 

 range to another, and where no natural 

 barrier exists for thousands of miles, from 

 Mexico to the uppermost boundaries of 

 the British possessions. 



"That wolves are prolific is a well 

 known fact, a litter containing 7 to 9 pups. 

 It is a fact, too, that they are far more 

 successfully exterminated during the 

 breeding season than at any other time, 

 either by poisoning, trapping or roping. 

 This is because during the breeding sea- 

 son packs separate into pairs, burrow in 

 the ground, and there raise their young, 

 making it possible for the wolf hunter to 



track them to their den and kill the whole 



family. 



***** 



"In my section we have a bounty of $8 

 supplementary to the State bounty of $4. 

 These, with the value of the pelt, give the 

 hunter $14 for each wolf killed. An exami- 

 nation into the history of the warfare 

 against wolves in other countries shows 

 that no small reward will suffice to finally 

 exterminate the animals. This is shown in 

 France and Russia to-day, as we have al- 

 ready seen, where for hundreds of years 

 the warfare has been carried on. All at- 

 tempts to exterminate wolves through 

 spasmodic legislation or insufficient appro- 

 priation, have proved almost useless. 

 * * * * * 



"The work of wolf extermination in a 

 country such as the Western range sec- 

 tion is not a matter of a few years' effort 

 with small expense to the State, but it 

 means a work similar to that which has 

 confronted the Russian empire for ages. 

 And not only will it cost the States in- 

 terested vast sums of money, but the live 

 stock interests of this section millions of 

 dollars' worth of live stock. This warfare 

 against wolves should be initiated now by 

 this association, and the necessary legis- 

 lation secured through its efforts. To 

 stockmen who are indifferent to this mat- 

 ter because they occupy ranges thus far 

 free from wolves, I would say that 200 

 miles North and Northwest of Denver 

 there are ranges where wolves are running 

 in packs of from 10 to 20, that they 

 devour fully 10 per cent, of the annual 

 calf crop on these ranges, and that to-day 

 there are so many wolves in Wyoming 

 it is doubtful if the State will be able 

 to appropriate the funds necessary for 

 their extermination." 



HOW I MISSED THE PICNIC. 



W. H. H. 



There was to be a picnic and that's how 

 I became disgraced. It was all the fault 

 of the girls; but then nearly everything 

 that ever happened to me was the fault 

 of a girl — or 2. 



I was to join the picnic at Buttermilk 

 falls in the afternoon, and I made every 

 effort to do so. It was about 3 o'clock 

 when I awoke the echoes of the most pic- 

 turesque spot this side of the Rockies 

 with a vigorous "Hello, there!" 



"Hello, there!" came the answer. 



I said I awoke the echoes. Well, I did, 

 literally; but I didn't discover it for an 

 hour. By that time I had walked 4 miles. 

 up hill, looking for the picnickers and 



was mad clear through. It is inspiring to 

 find you have been talking to an echo. 

 You feel like using language at yourself 

 which you ought never to use in the pres- 

 ence of an echo. I gave the picnic up as 

 a large and juicy joke, on myself, and 

 decided to visit a farmer friend at the next 

 house. My wheel had been moored in 

 a shed at the foot of the hill. 



When I reached Knight's house the 

 folks were cutting hay. They said it 

 would improve my appetite to drive the 

 rake awhile, so I drove and sweltered, 

 got tanned, and drank copious draughts 

 of ozone and hard cider. About 5 

 o'clock I started on my 3 mile ride home, 



