THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 125 



WOLVES LOW IN THE HILLS. 



BY 

 ALFRED C. SHELTON 



University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon. 



Timber wolves seemed to come lower in the hills this past 

 winter than usual. For several weeks one ravaged the hills be- 

 tween Wendling and Marcola, in the Mohawk river country, not 

 over twenty miles from Eugene, where it was very destructive 

 of both sheep and cattle. The beast was finally killed by Mr. 

 A. B. Wilkins and proved to be a big black fellow of unusual 

 size and color. His hide is now in the possession of Mr. Stacy 

 Russell of Eugene. This wolf was killed the latter part of 

 February. 



At the same time, about February 25, Mr. John Vaughn and 

 his partner, trappers in the Fall creek region, on the middle 

 fork of the "Willamette, were after wolves which were ravaging 

 that section of the country. These trappers tried poisoning at 

 first and were successful in getting the wolves to take the bait. 

 In the words of Mr. Vaughn himself, the wolves "ate up two 

 horses and four bottles of strychnine." But the poison was not 

 sufficiently deadly to kill at once, and the trappers were never 

 able to trace or find the brutes after they had taken the poison. 

 At last they resorted to traps and two wolves, a male and a 

 female, were secured. These were taken in the hills near Fall 

 creek, on the Middle fork of the Willamette, and again not over 

 twenty or thirty miles from Eugene. The female, a light yellow- 

 ish colored brute, was purchased by a resident of Eugene, but 

 the male, another big black fellow, is in the museum at the State 

 University at Eugene. This is the first record of these wolves, 

 so far as the writer has been able to ascertain, ravaging so low 

 in the "hills, and so close to civilization as the localities given 

 above. 



TRAPSHOOTING FOR THE PUBLIC. 



The interest in trapshooting is growing rapidly in various 

 parts of the county. It is good outdoor recreation. Traps have 

 recently been, established in Lincoln park. Chicago, and the pop 

 of the guns within the city draws as big a crowd as the monkeys 



