Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1891-02-03
ELK VERSUS COYOTE.

gu1She0 himself the other night. Not
withstanding Pete's long residence
among civilization, he is always savage
at this period OF the year.
For week or more he has been as
full of fight as candidate is of promises.
Nor is P,te particular as to the charac-
ter or quali y of his combat. AS long as
it is fight he is satisfied. He has tried
to stir up q muss with some of tho deer
that share the inclosure with him and
his family, but though they have some
lively battles among themselves they
evidently consider that Pete is the John
L. Sullivan OF tho crowd and pay no at
tention to his challenges. Nor can he
force them to fight. Whenever hc
charges on them tho bucks dodge him in
the brush, and, owing to their lesser
bulk, easily avoid him. Pete's long
legged offspring, born some months ago,
has rather hard time OF it these days,
but he hides himself among tho bushes
and SO evades his parents irritation.
Up to night before last tho best fight
that Pete could get up was with one Of
the fence posts. lie buited and paved
away ut this until it looked as if he'd
smash tie fence. Fortunately tho big
blacl1-tail buck showed up and took
Pete's attention from tho post, AMI by
the time he had chased tho buck three
or four times around the paddock Pete
had forgotten about the post.
Pete was standing in the moonlight at
the eastern end of tho paddock when a
little doe away of at the other end of
tho incl0sure gave q loud blGat Of
alarm. One Of the park policemen saw
her spring out of the brush. and to his
astonishment observed that q coyote was
cl:nging to her throat. Hc started to her
as fast as he could, but Pete was ahead
of him.
The elk gave one loud answering call,
n sound between the roar OF bull and
the baa of goat, with more of the roar
than tho baa in it, and then tore of
10 the rescue OF tho doe. According to
tho one spectator, Pete laid his horns
over against his back and hardly
seemed to touch the ground after tho
first jump. The coyote held on 10 the
does throat until Pete was within q
dozen yards Of him. Then he lctgo and
started for the fence. lie reached the
palings, but could not get through, and
tho now thoroughly enraged elk over
took him. Lifting his front logs with
amazing swiftness, Pete brought his
sharp hoofs down Nnnarely on the in
truders back. 1t must have broken tho
coyotes spine, for he male no further
aStempt to escape, but lay there strug-
Cling, yclping and swapping. He got one
hold on Pete's fore leg, but the elk got
his big horns to reinforce his hoof. and
after some very lively thrashing around
he broke the coyotes hold. Then Pete
went in to finish his adversary. Hoofs
0nd horns worked so quickly that the
policeman's eyes could not follow them.
Once Pete raised tho prowler clean off
tho ground with his antlers and tossed
him ten feet in the air. But the crippled
coyote was no coward, for wondor.
lie lighted fighting, and somehow got a
grip on Pete's haunch.
Then there was lively work. The
coyote was safe from Pete's antlers, but
the big elk had his kicking apparatus
very handy, and it was no time at all
before he had knocked the coyote off
him and sent him rolling down the
slope to the middle OF the paddock.
Then the fight was finished.
oIoE BuNo IWO DOuIuS uOWn the SIODG
and landed, all four feet together, on
tho hapless coyote.
That probably killed the marauder,
but Pete by no means let up. Ho paved
and kicked and gored the body until II
was cut to pieces. 1t was half an hour
before tho big elk quit mauling the
| carcass.
When no did no simply sounded an.
other challenge, OF which there wore, OF
| course, no takers, and then stalked
! haughtily around the paddock making
bluffs at the bucks.
How the coyote got into tho paddock
Is mystery. No break was to be found
in the fence, and 1t was evident that he
could not get out when the big ell
charged him.
There has occasionally been seer
about the park an old weather-beater
coyote, that ordinarily kept we'll avn,