468 Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture, 1919. 



wolves". 



Timber wolves and prairie wolves, or coyotes, are re- 

 stricted to the Western States. They are so often guilty 

 of destroying domestic animals and deer that they are gen- 

 erally killed whenever possible, and bounties are offered for 

 their scalps in several States. Their presence is made 

 known b}' their tracks, their doleful howls, and their depre- 

 dations. 



The methods already described for trapping foxes are 

 used for catching wolves. The trapper usually goes on- 

 horseback with his trapping outfit, as wolves are not sus- 

 picious of horse tracks. Arriving at the place selected for 

 a trail or a blind set, he drops a piece of canvas on which 

 to stand while making the set and is very careful not to 

 step off it or leave anything carrying his odor. Blind sets 

 are often made midway between growths of bushes, yucca, 

 or cactus, 8 or 10 feet apart. A few days after the set has 

 been made the trapper returns and without dismounting 

 from his horse drops some scent among the brush on either 

 side of the trap. The scent may be the one described for 

 catching foxes, or one more attractive to the animals may 

 be prepared as follows : 



Put into a bottle the urine from a wolf, the gall, and the anal 

 glands, which are situated under the skin on either side of the vent 

 and resemble small pieces of bluish fat; or, if these can not be 

 readily found, the whole anal parts may be used. In preparing 4 

 ounces of the mixture use one-quarter the amount of glycerin to 

 give it body and prevent too rapid evaporation, and 1 grain of cor- 

 rosive sublimate to keep it from spoiling. Let the mixture stand 

 several days, then shake well before using. 



Government coyote trappers use with great success what 

 may be called the Bakken prairie-dog set (fig. 14). In a 

 prairie-dog " town " the trapper beds two steel traps about C 

 inches apart in the edge of one of the hills and chains them 

 to a stake driven at the month of the burrow. A dead 

 prairie dog is placed between the traps and the burrow so 

 as to look as if going into the burrow, and is wired by its 

 head to the stake, the stake, head, and wire being covered 

 with dirt. Beginning near the stake, two shallow trenches are 

 dug, inclosing the prairie dog in an angle to direct a coyote 

 approaching the bait over the traps. In making this set the 



