The Opelousas courier., 1891-10-10
sCAVENGERs OF NATURE.
PREDACToUS ANIMALS TO WHICH
MAN Is VERY UNGRATEFUL.
instead of Killing, He Should Pro
tect Coyotes. Owls, Wolves and
HavvEs-Thay ana u;s ErfapfHS

instead of Killing, He Should r
tect Coyotes, Owls, Wolves and
Hawks-They Are His Friends.
There is diversity of opinion, says
the San Francisco {Cal.1 Chronicle, on
the subject of the value of the coyote. A
friend who has recently lost fifteen or
twenty hens, another who deplores the
loss of a fine turkey, another nelghbor
who entered his coop n morning and
found twenty-five or more pullets simply
murdered and lying in heaps-they can
not be convinced that the coyote has
any relation whatever to the agricultural
resources of the State and consequently
rejoice in the new law. Despite these
experiences, which are repeated in many
towns and ranches, I believe that the IN
restrIcteddestruction of the coyote is a
mistake, find that, while the animal may
be a posi- and detrimental to individual
ranches, to the ranch interests of the
State it is a practical benefit.
The coyote may be termed a native
dog and is one of the characteristic and
common animals of the State-a good
natured, happy-go-lucky< fellow, living
by his wits and legs, and generally de-
spised, when he should be appreciated.
The natural home of the animal is the
foothills of the ranges, and especially the
low hills that form the offshoots of the
Sierra Madre and Sierra Nevada. On the
slopes they lie during the daytime, if
near towns and villages, v~enturing
out at night, while in unfrequented dis
tricts they prowl about the plains in open
daylight. The tendency of the animal
is to go in small bands, though in some
localities they join forces and hunt in
large companies. IL the San Gabriel
Valley / have found them on the slopes
of the hillsides, lying on some projecting
rock, safe and almost concealed by their
resemblance to their surroundings. In.
one instance I saw a coyote not 100 yards
away. l came upon it SO suddenly that
it did not move, simply crouching lower
Wishing to see if it would take advan-t
tage of my pretending not 10 see it, |
passed by, keeping my face to the front.
The willy creature did not move, and
only started off when I turned and it
knew I had observed it.
The coyote IS a hunter; Its game con-
sists of any living creature smaller than
itself that it can run down. First comes
the jack rabbit or hare, which it can
capture with comparative ease. | have
on various occasions tested the speed Of
the coyote on horseback with a pack of
fast gray and stag hounds. and more than,
once have been distanced by the feet
runner. In localities where jack rab-.
bits abound coyotes wage eternal war
fare against them, combining forces, SO
That from ten to twenty will join in the
| chase that is often conducted with
great skill and ~generalship. In one chase,
observed carefully from the top of a.
hill, a dozen or more were in the habit
of meeting every day to chase rabbits.
Whena jack was singled out the coyotes
formed into two lines, two of the ami
mails leading, the lines being about fifty
feet apart, the idea evidently being to
surround the flying game. When the
leaders were tired they would drop to
the rear, their places being taken by two
others, and so on until the game was
run down.
The coyote is a pest principally in
two directions: It preys upon the ranch
er's chickens and turkeys and his sheep.
If the value of chickens destroyed and
young sheep killed during the year by
coyotes on a ranch in a new country
where rabbits abound be compared to
the damage caused by the latter animals
to vines and young trees, | venture to
assert that the rancher will prefer to
take his chances with the coyote, as he
can at small expense make his henhouse
| secure against the ravages of the mid
| night prowler, while it is often imprac-
ticable to attempt or impossible to pre-
| vent the inroads of the rabbits, that CIR
die trees, eat them down when young
and play havoc generally.
The a~cottontail' may also be included
among the enemies of the raneher, and
the damage done by them in some locali-
| ties is enormous. Their increase is rapid,
and were it not for their enemies-haWks
and coyotes-they would prove more of
a detriment to the agrlculturist than they
are. How the rabbit can increase when
there is a minimum supply Of natural
enemies is exempliied in Australia, where
agricultural industries which cover u
large area are ~paralyzed BY the plague.
Years G seven rabbits were introduced
from England, and nov they exist in
countless numbers, o~yerrunning every
thing and literally holding back the aegri.
cultural advancement Of the country.
The ground squirrel is a serious de-
triment to the rancher in this State. This
little animal is occasionally seen in the
centre of town and all the fields in the
outskirts are infested BY it, and the
amount of damage it does is not incon-
siderable. The ground squirrel occasions
ally falls q victim to large snakes, but its
natural enemy is the coyote, that consid-
ers it d delicious tidbit.
III this brief review of the animal it
win be seen that it is essentially an i'm
portant factor in the perfect adjustment
of nature that is always found. The AMI
NAL has a definite work to perform. It
prevs upon certain animals that are de-
trimentaI to mans interests and prevents
too great increase. 10 sum up, the
coyote preys upon three ani4nals-jack
rabbits, t~scottontails' and ground SPUR
rels-that are. the particular bane Of the
rancner, and on the other hand it is q
chicken thief, about the only valid claim
that can be- made against it, though il
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