CONTROL OF THE COYOTE IN CALIFORNIA 



By JOSEPH DIXON 



(Contribution from the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology of the University of 



California.) 



POINTS OF SPECIAL INTEREST 



The economic status of the coyote is dependent largely on locality. 

 This animal is not necessarily a "bad citizen." On the sheep range 

 he is a menace; in a squirrel-infested country he is a benefit. If we 

 kill off all the coyotes we must face the problem of ourselves accounting 

 for the thousands of ground squirrels and jack rabbits which the 

 coj'ote now destroys annually. The coyote stands second among the 

 fur-bearers of Calfornia. Certain prime pelts have recently brought 

 up-to-date trappers $20.00 apiece. In order to bring such a price 

 the pelts must be prime and properly prepared. Control rather than 

 extermination should be our aim in most places. In certain sections 

 actual extermination may be justifiably striven for. 



The following methods of control have proved most successful: 

 trapping ; poisoning with strA-chnine in suet pellets ; digging out dens 

 containing young. 



Coyotes have been successfully fenced out of certain sheep ranges 

 in Mendocino County. 



The bounty system is vastly expensive, productive of endless fraud, 

 and does not give general or permanent relief. 



Where coyote control is needed, continued, cooperative efforts 

 between the interested counties and the Federal government should 

 be encouraged. 



NATURE OF THE COYOTE 



The coyote is the most widely distributed as well as the most 

 destructive carnivorous animal now existing in California. Although 

 known by sight to nearly ever\-one, the coA'ote is sometimes mistaken 

 for the true gray or timber wolf, a much larger animal believed to 

 be extinct now in this state. Coyotes occur in greater or less numbers 

 in practically every county in the state. 



