Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1869-05-28
8 COYOTE CONCERr.

y camp o. blvouac ON tha Plains can have
no ba'l-T safeguard during the dark hours
ol night than that which il furnished unasks
ed BY The coyoies a.d gray wolves, tia, asu.
ally put 10 an appearance Just as the second
or reflected sunset tinge is fading from the
higher clouds. ID ring the winter season
night falls so quickly on the Plains that the
twilight hour is thing Of name rat. .er tha n
fact The last Of ssnsei is the commence>
n:ent Of night. At this hour you may hear
far in the d stance the quick bark of s.n.
gle cnyoe. Asmoment after the yelpina of
a number OF wolves answers This first call.
The pack Is assembling rapidly, and by The
time dark"ess has shut out your view of the
nearer surroundings you will listen to a
howling> >mat IL a sort Of preliminary trial
of voice, which invariably denotes the sur
rounding Of your camp b, the newcomers.
This howl 10 short, and seems to be xecu,ed
by chosen Few. A s.leuce of few mo.
nien,s. duration follows. Then the whole
band breaks out, and the uuear,hIy noise
which greets your ear is second to nothing
in all the long catalogue OF noises. Kit Car,
son aveuedthat it was ..orly q little dispute
as 10 which coyote had, rs the winner si the
match, the right TO take the stakes fsteaks1.r 2
1t is quite impossible to do full iastiee 70
this wolf music. There is no racket known
TO the Inhabitants Of the more civilized sec,
tions of our country which will compare with
it. MI the felines in neigiborhood would
not make roisc which would begin 10 equal
wolf mnsic. The hubbub TO be heard AT a
session Of the Ioard Of Brokers is q faint
comparison.
IildsOvs asthis wolf concert would seem
10 ears unused to it, there is no more satis-
factory lullaby to the babiual roamer over
the Plains. for in the language of The sec
ton, If any red>skin should take il under
his scalp to look about camp, every cuss OF
them coyotes would shnt his trap and wake
the feilers up with the quic'.r As the small
honrs OF he hight cone OH. few of The
wolves will steal into camp to secure edibles
which have been carelessly left within their
reach. At times they are SO bold a. 10 at.
tempt the thief, Of a haversack of food upon
which The lead Of the sleeper Is pillowed,
but seldom If ever will they make any attack
upon the persons Of the mpers. As dawn
comes the howling ceases, and mmjorisy Of
the coyotes betake themselves to their bur,
rows. Those wolves which linger retire 10 a
safe distance from camp, and here, sauatsed
on their Gauuches ike dogs. await the re-
moval of camr, hoping to secure few
scraps Of food which may have been thrown
away or abandoned.
II IS an old saying among plainsmen,
" That the coyotescan smell .Strtes fsYer,
and then you all not see coyote anywhere
within rifle shot Of camp" \ considerable
experience goes with the Plainsman to sear
him out in this assertion "Slates feliors
shoots at ary . live thing as jumps in their
sight, whether it is any count 10 them or
no. remarked an old hunter. Possibly this
waste of ammunition NAV, to some extent,
account for the supposed keea scent OF the
coyotes.-TnEopoRE X. DAVIS, in Ha,per's
Magazine.