Wolf and Coyote Trapping: An Up-to-Date Wolf Hunter's Guide : Giving the Most Successful Methods of Experienced "Wolfers" for Hunting and Trapping These Animals, Also Gives Their Habits in Detail. E-Book
A. R. Harding
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- Herausgeber: Krill Press
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
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Seitenzahl: 235
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016
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WOLF AND COYOTE TRAPPING: AN UP-TO-DATE WOLF HUNTER’S GUIDE : GIVING THE MOST SUCCESSFUL METHODS OF EXPERIENCED “WOLFERS” FOR HUNTING AND TRAPPING THESE ANIMALS, ALSO GIVES THEIR HABITS IN DETAIL.
A. R. Harding
DOSSIER PRESS
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Copyright © 2016 by A. R. Harding
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Distribution by Pronoun
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.
CHAPTER I. THE TIMBER WOLF.
CHAPTER II. THE COYOTE.
CHAPTER III. KILLING OF STOCK AND GAME BY WOLVES.
CHAPTER IV. BOUNTIES.
CHAPTER V. HUNTING YOUNG WOLVES AND COYOTES.
CHAPTER VI. HUNTING WOLVES WITH DOGS.
CHAPTER VII. STILL HUNTING WOLVES AND COYOTES.
CHAPTER VIII. POISONING WOLVES.
CHAPTER IX. TRAPPING WOLVES.
CHAPTER X. SCENTS AND BAITS.
CHAPTER XI. SCENT METHODS.
CHAPTER XII. BAIT METHODS FOR WOLVES.
CHAPTER XIII. SOUTHERN BAIT METHODS FOR COYOTES.
CHAPTER XIV. NORTHERN BAIT METHODS FOR COYOTES.
CHAPTER XV. BLIND SET METHODS.
CHAPTER XVI. SNOW SET METHODS.
CHAPTER XVII. SOME RULES AND THINGS TO REMEMBER.
CHAPTER XVIII. THE TREACHEROUS GREY WOLF. By Perry Davis.
CHAPTER XIX. WOLF CATCHING.
CHAPTER XX. WITH THE COYOTES. By Louis Wessel.
CHAPTER XXI. WOLF TRAPPING AN ART. By Captain Jack O’Connell.
Wolf and Coyote Trapping: An Up-to-Date Wolf Hunter’s Guide : Giving the Most Successful Methods of Experienced “Wolfers” for Hunting and Trapping These Animals, Also Gives Their Habits in Detail.
By
A. R. Harding
Wolf and Coyote Trapping: An Up-to-Date Wolf Hunter’s Guide : Giving the Most Successful Methods of Experienced “Wolfers” for Hunting and Trapping These Animals, Also Gives Their Habits in Detail.
Published by Dossier Press
New York City, NY
First published circa 1930
Copyright © Dossier Press, 2015
All rights reserved
Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
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INTRODUCTION.
THERE ARE CERTAIN WILD ANIMALS which when hard pressed by severe cold and hunger, will raid the farmers and ranchmen’s yards, killing fowls and stock. There however, are no animals that destroy so much stock as wolves and coyotes as they largely live upon the property of farmers, settlers and ranchmen to which they add game as they can get it.
While these animals are trapped, shot, poisoned, hunted with dogs, etc., their numbers, in some states, seem to be on the increase rather than the decrease in face of the fact that heavy bounties are offered.
The fact that wolf and coyote scalps command a bounty, in many states, and in addition their pelts are valuable, makes the hunting and trapping of these animals of no little importance.
One thing that has helped to keep the members of these “howlers” so numerous is the fact that they are among the shrewdest animal in America. The day of their extermination is, no doubt, far in the distance.
This book contains much of value to those who expect to follow the business of catching wolves and coyotes. A great deal of the habits and many of the methods were written by Mr. E. Kreps, who has had experience with these animals upon the Western Plains, in Canada, and the South. Additional information has been secured from Government Bulletins and experienced “wolfers” from various parts of America.
A. R. Harding.
CHAPTER I. THE TIMBER WOLF.
WOLVES OF ALL SPECIES BELONG to that class of animals known as the dog family, the members of which are considered to be the most intelligent of brute animals. They are found, in one species or another, in almost every part of the world. They are strictly carnivorous and are beyond all doubt the most destructive of all wild animals.
In general appearance the wolf resembles a large dog having erect ears, elongated muzzle, long heavy fur and bushy tail. The size and color varies considerably as there are many varieties.
The wolves of North America may be divided into two distinct groups, namely, the large timber wolves, and the prairie wolves or coyotes (ki’-yote). Of the timber wolves there are a number of varieties, perhaps species, for there is considerable difference in size and color. For instance there is the small black wolf which is still found in Florida, and the large Arctic wolf which is found in far Northern Canada and Alaska, the color of which is a pure white with a black tip to the tail. Then there is that intermediate variety known as the Grey Wolf, also called “Timber Wolf,” “Lobo” and “Wolf,” the latter indefinite name being used throughout the West to distinguish the animal from the prairie species. It is the most common of the American wolves, the numbers of this variety being in excess of all of the others combined. In addition to those mentioned, there are others such as the Red Wolf of Texas and the Brindled Wolf of Mexico. All of these, however, belong to the group known to naturalists as the Timber Wolves. Just how many species and how many distinct varieties there are is not known.
As a rule, the largest wolves are found in the North; the Gray Wolves of the western plains being slightly smaller than the white and Dusky Wolves of Northern Canada and Alaska, specimens of which, it is said, sometimes weigh as much as one hundred and fifty pounds. Again the wolves of the southern part of the United States and of Mexico are smaller than the gray variety.
The average full grown wolf will measure about five feet in length, from the end of the nose to the tip of the tail, and will weigh from eighty to one hundred pounds, but specimens have been killed which far exceeded these figures. The prevailing color is gray, being darkest on the back and dusky on the shoulders and hips. The tail is very bushy and the fur of the body is long and shaggy. The ears are erect and pointed, the muzzle long and heavy, the eyes brown and considering the fierce, bloodthirsty nature of the animal, have a very gentle expression.
In early days wolves were found in all parts of the country but they have been exterminated or driven out of the thickly settled portions and their present distribution in the United States is shown by the accompanying map. As will be noted they are found in only a small portion of Nevada and none are found in California, but they are to be met with in all other states west of the Missouri and the lower Mississippi, also all of the most southern tier of states, as well as those parts bordering on Lake Superior. A few are yet found in the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. They are probably most abundant in Northern Michigan and Northern Minnesota, Western Wyoming, Montana and New Mexico.
Wyoming is the center of the wolf infested country and they are found in greatest numbers in that state, on the headwaters of the Green River. As to the numbers still found the report of the Biological Survey for the years 1895 to 1906, inclusive, but not including the year 1898, shows that bounties were paid on 20,819 wolves in that state.
In Northern Michigan they are also abundant. In the year 1907, thirty-four wolves were killed in Ontonagon County; in Luce County fifty-four were killed up to November 10th, ‘07, and in Schoolcraft Co., thirty were killed from October 1st, ‘07 to April 29th, ‘08. This gives a total of one hundred and eighteen wolves killed in three out of the sixteen counties of the Upper Peninsula. These statistics are from a pamphlet issued by the Department of Agriculture.
The breeding season of the timber wolves is not as definite as that of many of the furbearing animals, for the young make their appearance from early in March until in May, and an occasional litter will be born during the summer, even as late as August. The mating season of course varies, but is mainly in January and February, the period of gestation being nine weeks. The number in a litter varies from five to thirteen, the usual number being eight or ten.
In early days the wolves of the western plains followed the great buffalo herds and preyed on the young animals, also the old and feeble. After the extermination of that animal they turned their attention to the herds of cattle which soon covered the great western range and their depredations have become a positive nuisance. In the Northern States and throughout Canada they subsist almost entirely on wild game.
Wolves den in the ground or rocks in natural dens if such can be found, but in case natural excavations are rare as in northern portions of the country, they appropriate and enlarge the homes of other animals. In the heavily timbered country they sometimes den in hollow logs.
The wolf is both cowardly and courageous, depending on circumstances. When found singly, and especially in daylight the animal is as much of a coward as any creature could possibly be, and especially does it fear man. But when suffering from the pangs of hunger and when traveling in bands as they usually do, they are bold, fierce and bloodthirsty creatures. In such cases they have been known to attack man.
When hunting large game, wolves always go in bands, usually of three to five but often a larger number. They invariably kill animals by springing on from behind and hamstringing the victim. Small game is hunted by lone animals.
The great losses suffered by stockmen in the West led the Biological Survey, in connection with the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture, to make a special investigation, and later a general campaign against the wolves of the National Forests began. During the year 1907 a large number of wolves and coyotes were captured in and near the forest reserves: the number from the various states being as follows:
Many of these animals were captured by the forest guards but in addition the government employed a number of expert trappers. On the Gila National Forest 36 wolves and 30 coyotes were killed by one forest guard, who sent the skulls to the Biological Survey for identification, as well as the skulls of 9 bears, 7 mountain lions, 17 bobcats, and 46 grey foxes. One den of 8 very young wolf pups was taken March 13. These statistics are from Circular 63, issued by the U. S. Department of Agriculture.
Wolves are great ramblers, traveling over a large section of country. Like almost all other animals of rambling habits, they have their regular routes of travel. By this, we mean they follow the same valleys, passes, water courses, etc., but when in pursuit of game they sometimes stray quite a long distance out of their course.
The track of the wolf resembles that of a dog, but is a trifle narrower in proportion to its length. The difference is in the two middle toes, which are somewhat longer on the wolf, however, the difference is so slight that it could easily pass unnoticed. When the wolf is running these toes are spread well apart. The length of step when the animal is walking will be from 18 to 24 inches, and the average footprint will measure about 2 3/4 or 3 inches in width by about 3 1/2 or 4 inches in length. Ernest Thompson Seton, the naturalist claims that he can judge with fair accuracy, the weight of a wolf by the size of the track. He allows twenty pounds for each inch in length, of the foot print.
CHAPTER II. THE COYOTE.
IN THE WESTERN PARTS OF the United States, the coyote is far more abundant than the grey, or timber wolf, but its range is more limited as it is found only in those parts lying west of the Mississippi River and in the western portion of the Dominion of Canada. As there are a number of varieties of the timber wolf, so it is with the coyote, but naturalists have never yet been able to agree on the number of types and their distribution. In the Southwest, it appears there are several distinct varieties, showing considerable difference in size and color. Mr. Vasma Brown, a noted coyote trapper of Texas has the following to say on the subject:
“I have lived in Texas nineteen years and have had some years of experience with the coyotes, coons and cats. Some coyotes are of a silver-grey color, others are dark brown. The ends of their hair are jet black and it makes them look brown. Some have black tips on the tail and some white. The dark variety are the most vicious of the two.”
With the exception of the southwestern section, it is probable that the coyotes of all portions of the Great Plains and the country to the westward are of the same variety, and a description of this, the most common type will answer for the species. In size, the coyote or prairie wolf is considerably smaller than the timber wolf, the largest specimens of the former being about equal in size to the smallest adult wolves. The average coyote will measure about thirty-six or thirty-eight inches from the end of the nose to the base of the tail, which is about sixteen inches additional length. The fur is of about the same texture as that of the grey fox and the general color is fulvous, black and white hairs being mingled in parts, giving a grizzled appearance. The ears are larger, comparatively than those of the grey wolf, and the muzzle is more pointed. All through the animal appears to be of more delicate build. A larger form of the coyote is found in Minnesota and the adjoining territory and is commonly known as the “brush wolf”. Whether this is a distinct variety is not known.
Coyotes are intelligent and cunning animals and their habits and general appearance suggest the fox rather than the wolf. While they are greedy, bloodthirsty creatures, they are sneaking and cowardly and never kill animals larger than deer, in fact they rarely attack such large game. An Arizona trapper writes:
“The coyote bears the same relation to the wolf family that the Apache Indian does to the human race. It is a belief among some of the Apaches that they turn into coyotes when they depart this life, and nothing will induce one of them to kill a coyote. Like the Indian he is sneaky and treacherous, and full of the devil.”
While there is no doubt that the animal enjoys its wild, free life, it always has a miserable, distressed expression. It carries its tail in a drooping manner and slinks out of sight like a dog that has been doing wrong and has a troubled conscience.
The high piercing cry of the animal, which is so different from the deep bass note of the timber wolf, is mournful in the extreme. In the morning before the coyotes retire for the day, they stop on the top of some elevation and sound their “reveille”, which once heard will never be forgotten. It is a shrill, piercing note, combining a howl with a bark and although in all probability there will be only a pair of the animals, one who does not know would be inclined to think that the number is larger, the notes are so commingled.
Coyotes live in natural dens in the rocks, also in dens of badgers, in the prairie country. In the “Bad Lands” of the West and the foot hills of the mountain ranges, wind worn holes in the rim-rock and buttes are quite common and the animals have no trouble in securing a good den. Naturally, they select the most secluded and inaccessible places for their dens. The food of the coyote consists of small game, such as hares and grouse, prairie dogs and any other small animals that they can capture. In the sheep raising districts of the Western States they are very destructive to sheep and in those parts it is probable that their food consists mostly of mutton. They feed on carrion and have a particular liking for horse flesh. They also kill badgers and when conditions are very favorable may kill an occasional deer or antelope. They also sometimes kill calves and hogs.
Speaking of conditions in Oregon and other parts of the Northwest, one of our friends writes:
“The prairie wolf or coyote in the Western states are becoming so numerous that it looks as though the sheep industry in Idaho and Eastern Oregon would soon be a thing of the past, if something it not done to lesson the number of the destructive coyotes.
“Twenty years ago there were a great many coyotes in Oregon, but the black tail rabbits were so numerous then that the coyote contented himself with them and did not molest the sheep to any great extent. Idaho and Oregon both put a bounty on rabbits, which soon caused them to become scarce, then the coyotes began their depredations among the sheep. The wool growers supplied themselves with plenty of strychnine and kept the coyote reduced to quite an extent. Of late years it seems that poison will not kill a coyote. As soon as he feels the effect of the poison he throws up the bait he has just eaten, and in a few minutes he is all right.
The only way to kill coyotes these days is with the gun, the trap or with dogs. They are so thick here now that hounds would not be much good, as the coyotes would change at any time and run them down. I don’t think there was a band of sheep anywhere in this country but what suffered more or less from coyotes last winter. I trapped some last winter for the Munz Brothers, and I saw where 48 sheep had been killed at one camp. They had been camped there about ten days. This is about an average killing if the weather is stormy.
“In Southeastern Oregon there is a desert about one hundred miles square, and thirty or forty bands of sheep feed there every winter. They run from two to three thousand sheep in a band. The sheep men on this desert last winter, 1904-’05, paid $40.00 per month and board for trappers to trap coyotes, and the trappers were allowed to keep the furs they caught. Some of them made very large wages.”
It is said that when hunting rabbits, two coyotes will join forces and in this way one animal will drive the game to within reach of the other, thus avoiding the fatigue caused by running down game. Naturalists also claim that the adult animals will sometimes drive the game close to the den, so that the young coyotes may have the opportunity of killing it. They frequently pick up scraps about the camps, and if undisturbed, will in a short time, lose much of their timidity. Old camping places are always inspected in the hopes of finding some morsel of food, and one can always find coyote tracks in the ashes of the campfire.
Though the coyote belongs to the flesh-eating class of animals, it is not strictly carnivorous. In late summer when the wild rose tips are red and sweet and berries are plentiful, its flesh eating propensities forsake it in part and it adds fruit to its “bill of fare”. Whether this is caused by hunger or a change of appetite, or whether the fruit acts as a tonic and the animal, instinctively, realizes that it must tone up its system in preparation for the long winter, is not known.
Coyotes have a more regular breeding season than the timber wolves, for practically all of the young make their appearance in the months of April and May. The number of young varies from five to twelve. The young animals are of a yellowish grey color with brown ears and black tail, muzzle tawny or yellowish brown. As they become older they take on a lighter shade and the tail changes to greyish with a black tip. Both wolves and coyotes pair for the breeding season and the males stay with the females during the summer and help take care of the young. It is probable that they do not breed until two years of age. As soon as the young are strong enough, and their eyes are open they commence to play about the mouth of the den and later on the mother leads them to the nearest water and finally allows them to accompany her on hunting excursions. In late summer they start out to shift for themselves.
As before mentioned, the coyote is a wary and cunning animal, especially in the more settled portions of its range; where man is not too much in evidence, they are far less wary. Again the fact that there are several varieties may account for the difference in the nature of the animals of the various sections, anyway those of the southern part of the range are less wary than those of the North. The trappers of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico claim that the coyote is a fool and is easily caught while those of the North and Northwest find them exceedingly cunning and intelligent. Not only does the animal appear to know when you are armed but it also seems to know something of the range of the weapon and will sneak along provokingly close, but just out of reach. When one is unarmed they appear to be more bold and will loaf around in the most unconcerned manner imaginable.
In intelligence and cunning, we consider the northern coyote the equal of the eastern red fox. While the western trappers make very large catches of coyotes, we believe that if foxes were found in equal numbers the catches of those animals would be fully as large. The number of coyotes found in some parts of the West is almost incredible, and in most parts one will find a hundred coyotes to one grey wolf.
The coyote makes a track similar to that of the timber wolf, but considerably smaller. The length of step, when walking, is about sixteen inches and the footprints will measure about two or two and a fourth inches in length by one and a half in width.
CHAPTER III. KILLING OF STOCK AND GAME BY WOLVES.
UNDOUBTEDLY THE WOLVES AND COYOTES of the United States and Canada destroy more stock and game than all other predatory animals combined. In the Western part of our country where stock raising is one of the principal industries, the ranchmen suffer great losses from the depredation of these animals, and in other sections the wolves destroy large quantities of game. The reason that wolves are more destructive than others of the carnivora is that when they have the opportunity, they kill far more than they can consume for food. Often they only tear a mouthful of flesh from the body of their victim; sometimes they do not even kill the animal but leave it to suffer a slow and painful death. The animals that are only slightly bitten are sure to die from blood poisoning, according to the western ranchmen.
The wolf’s method of attack is from the rear, springing on its victim and hamstringing it and literally eating it alive. The bite of the wolf is a succession of quick, savage snaps and there is no salvation for the creature that has no means of defense from a rear attack. This peculiar method of killing prey can not be practiced successfully on horses, owing to the fact that they can defend themselves by kicking, but for all of that, a considerable number of colts and a few full grown horses are killed. For this reason cattle suffer more than horses, but while the horse is, to a certain extent, exempt from attack by wolves, they are frequently killed by mountain lions, because their method of attack, a spring at the head and throat is more successful with these animals than with cattle. As food, however, horse flesh is preferred to beef by both of these animals.
One of the western trappers writes:
“Many times in the past thirty years I have watched wolves catch cows. The wolf is by nature a coward and will not, singly, attack a grown cow, though he will by himself kill a pig, chicken, calf, goat or sheep.
“On the ranges, where the stockmen and settlements are far apart, wolves go in bunches, from three to ten or even more, and when very hungry a bunch of them will attack a grown bull. They frighten him by snapping and playing around him till they get him on the run, when the bunch give full chase and stay close at his heels. While he is running in this way, one or more of them will grab him by the ham strings just above the hock joint. The bull makes, of course, a vigorous effort to free himself from the wolf, but before he can do so, the sharp teeth of the latter have cut or partially cut the ham string. They keep him on the run till they finally cut him down in both ham strings and then he cannot go further or fight the hungry wolves off.
“The whole bunch then eat his hams out while the bull is still alive, and after they get their full they let him rest. When they want to fill up again, they return and eat him till he dies, finishing the carcass as they require food.
“I have seen horses and cattle killed by wolves in this way live for several days with their hams eaten out, and have never seen the wolf make his attack or give chase in any other way. Being cowardly, he always follows behind and keeps out of all danger from the bull’s hoofs.”
Of cattle, calves and yearlings are generally selected, partly because the flesh of the younger animals is more to the wolf’s liking and partly because they cannot defend themselves as readily as full grown animals, but full grown steers are also killed at times. Far more cattle are killed than are eaten. The wolf prefers fresh food always and in summer when their resources are unlimited they seldom return to the carcass for a second meal.
In “Bulletin 72,” issued by the United States Department of Agriculture, the author, Mr. Vernon Bailey, has the following to say on the subject:
“The actual number of cattle killed by wolves can not be determined. Comparatively few animals are found by cattlemen and hunters, when freshly killed, with wolf tracks around them and with wolf marks on them. Not all of the adult cattle missing from a herd can surely be charged the depredations of wolves, while missing calves may have been taken by wolves, by mountain lions, or by ‘rustlers.’”
