10 ATOLYES IX RELATION TO STOCK^ GAME^ AND FOREST RESERVES. 



and that in 1894 they were common about Newcastle, along the head- 

 waters of the Little Missouri, and along Duck Creek, Clear Creek, 

 and the road between Clearmont and Sheridan. Most of these re- 

 ports credit the wolves with the destruction of much stock, mainly 

 calves and yearlings, but a few grown cattle, colts, and sheep. 



The records of bounties paid during the past twelve 3^ears in Wyo- 

 ming, in the heart of the wolf country, indicate in a general way the 

 abundance of the wolves. The figures fluctuate considerably from 

 year to year, partly because the amount available for bounty pay- 

 ments in aii}^ year is limited, so that with its exhaustion this incentive 

 to wolf hunting is removed. On the whole the record can not be taken 

 to show that the number of wolves has markedly decreased under 

 the bounty system. 



Table 1. — Bounty records for twelve years in Wyoming. 



Year. 



Number of 

 wolves on 



which 



bounty was 



paid. 



Bounty 



per 



wolf. 



Total 

 amount 

 paid in 

 bounties. 



1895 



1,699 



3,365 



897 



§3 

 3 

 4 



$5 097 



1896 



10, 095 



1897 



3,588 



1898 a 





1899 and 1900 b 



4,908 

 4,480 

 2,256 

 3,214 



3 

 3 

 5 

 3 



14, 724 



1901 and 190'^ b 



' 13,440 

 11, 280 



1903 and 1904 b 



1905 and 1906 b 



9,642 







Total for 11 year« 



20,819 





67, 866 







« Species not reported separately, .$14,160.25 paid on wolves, coyotes, and mountain 

 lions. 



* Biennial reports not separated by years. 



MONTANA. 



Eeports for 1893 show that wolves were common at Alzada and 

 Powderville, and were very destructive to stock, especially calves 

 and colts. In 1891 their tracks were common along the Little Big- 

 horn Valley, in Lake Basin, along Painted Robe Creek and the 

 Musselshell River, and around Big Snowy Mountains, while packs 

 of as many as 16 were reported 20 miles north of Great Falls. A 

 sheep herder in Lake Basin told me that they howled around his 

 camp every night and killed some sheep, but that he did not kill 

 them because at that time there was no bounty. In 1895 wolves were 

 X^lentiful over the plains north of Blackfoot Station, and a few were 

 said to be in the timber west of the mountains, in the Flathead Valley 

 and northward to Tobacco Plains on the Columbia. 



Records of wolf bounties paid in recent years in Montana have 

 not been procured, but other reports indicate that wolves are as 

 numerous there as in Wyoming. 



