-"Vol. LXXXIX 
MARCH, 1919 
No. 3 
THE SCOURGE OF THE PRAIRIES 
TRAPPING WOLVES, LYNX AND COYOTES IN THE FOOTHILLS OF^THEJ ROCK- 
IES IN THE INTEREST OF FOOD CONSERVATION AND GAMEj^PROTECTION 
By "BOB WHITE" 
1 HAVE known Bert for years. In 
spite of his rather checkered career 
as “wolfer” for the Cattlemen’s As- 
sociation of Wyoming, hunter, trapper, 
range rider, forest ranger, and one time 
“rustler,” I have found him to be a very 
trustworthy companion, both in camp and 
on the trap line. There is a trace of 
Indian blood in him, that of the Utes, 
the tribe that, under the chieftainship 
of the great Ouray, roamed the plains 
of Colorado in the long ago. The last 
remnant of the tribe now lives on its 
reservation at Ignacio, in the southern 
part of the state. 
As “wolfer” for the cattlemen in the 
Jackson’s Hole and Bad Lands Country 
of Wyoming, Bert has the distinction of 
being one of the most expert t»appers 
for that great destroyer of live stock — 
the gray timber wolL It is said that 
one of these wolves will destroy a thou- 
sand dollars’ worth of stock in a single 
season. No wonder, then, that these cat- 
tlemen are willing to pav a man $60.00 
per month, which includes a cabin, grub, 
team, and, in fact, everything “found.” 
Besides, the Associatic i pays from $25 
to $60 for each wolf caught, while the 
state pays nearly as much. The hide of 
the wolf is worth from $10 to $15, which 
brings the trapper very near $100 for 
each wolf caught. Some of these trap- 
pers have made as high as $300 in a 
single month. These cattlemen are quick 
to recognize a good trapper, and, as they 
spend money freely, a good trapper is 
always welcomed among them. The 
United States Biological Survey has 
done everything in its power to stamp 
out the depredations of this great 
scourge of the plains, and, while it has 
had quite some success by scattering 
poisoned bait in the places they infest, 
they have learned that these wolves soon 
become suspicious of meat that has been 
poisoned, refusing to be tempted by it. 
Trapping has been found the most suc- 
cessful method, while locating their dens. 
In the breeding season, destroying the 
young, is also extensively followed. A 
wolf gives birth to six to ten pups at a 
time. For each pu^ scalp the state pays 
a bounty of $10, as do the cattlemen’s as- 
sociations. It is not unusual for these 
“wolfers” to crawl into a den and pull 
the pups out alive, first shooting the 
mother. In case the dtn is too small to 
crawl into, dynamite is resorted to. Bert 
Bert “ skinning the cat 
tells me that one time he made $80 in 
an hour, getting eight pups from a den. 
No wonder, then that I accepted his 
invitation to spend a month with him 
at his cabin in the foothills, in the 
shadow of Cheyenne Mountain. He had 
been trapping there for several weeks 
before I had the chance to join him, and 
had been having fairly good luck. But 
it was not the gray wolf of Wyoming 
that he was after. They are very scarce 
in this particular part of Colorado. 
Contents Cooyrieht, 1919 by Forest and Stream Publlsliliig Co. 
W HILE Wyoming has the wolf to 
contend with, Colorado has the 
coyote (prairie wolf). The coy- 
ote is much smaller than the gray wolf, 
being about] the size of a shepherd dog, 
and is supposed to be a cross breed 
between a wolf and a dog. They are one 
of the hardest animals to catch, old trap- 
pers claiming they are “slicker than a 
fox,” and harder to trap than the wolf, 
or even the fox. While there is, or was 
a bounty on the Colorado coyote, none 
is paid, as the state fund for that pur- 
pose was depleted long ago. Hence the 
trapper receives what the hide is worth 
from the fur dealers, receiving no re- 
compense from the ranchers, as they are 
not organized as they are in Wyoming. 
However, a good trapper can make from 
$25 to $75 per week on coyotes. 
The first morning after my arrival I 
went with him to look at his traps. He 
had a line of about ten miles in a circle. 
The nearest trap was about a half mile 
from the cabin, then others at intervals 
of a quarter to a half mile apart, grad- 
ually drawing further from the cabin, 
then, as the circle grew, gradually draw- 
ing nearer the starting point. This is 
the favorite method of the expert trap- 
per. While he had a hundred and fifty 
traps set, it must be remembered that, 
then trapping for the wolf or coyote, it 
takes two or three traps at each “set”: 
sometimes four are used. If a coyote 
was held by a single trap, there are a 
great many chances in favor of his es- 
caping, as they make a terrible struggle 
when the trap springs. In order to re- 
duce this chance to a minimum, the traps 
are wired together, all firmly secured to 
an iron stake driven in the ground. 
When three traps are set, it is called 
a “triangle”; when four are used, it 
is called the “square set.” When the first 
trap springs in its struggle the coyote 
naturally gets another foot in one of 
the other traps, when there is no chance 
of escape. In most cases, Bert caught 
them by two legs, and I have seen one 
caught by both front feet and one rear. 
