The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1892-05-19
kt.LJNo coYoTts.


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Hot the Troublesome Animals Are Hunted
kFof Theif seafps.
~ insthe case of the proverbial cat
there are more ways Of discriminating
thecoy ote than one. The gnn is a slow
and tedious process Poison answers
the purpose much better al brings
fourfold tho results
The method Of using poison ,sqnires
extreme caution throughout First Of
all, you need one or two pounis Of
strychnine, and also some kind of fresh
meat with which TO bais 1t. Game may
answer the purpose; but beef liver is
above all Others preferable. as being
the most seductive and also the safest
TO handle In preparation. When near
settlement Of any kind, or wherever
such thing Is possible, the hide OF a
newly slaughtered COW or sheep Is 70
be secured for the purpose Of forming
drag In fact the fresh hide OF
some kind Of an animal sufficiently
large for the purpose Ii Indispensable
to this method of destruction, what
ever location you may be in.
To form q drag" is very simple
when you have the requisites and know
just how to 60 about. IT A spot is Sc
lected some quarter Of "a mile or so
from camp. to which place you carry
I the hide. and there start to drag slowly
over the ground, with the flesh side
I down, in circle. If you have horse
or burro this Is no very difficult task,
and you may without much exertion
continue the circle around your camp.
always taking care ~ remain fair
distance from 1t as the suspicious ma
ture of the coyote will not permit it to
venture very close to new camp un-
less in cases Of extreme hunger
But it Is advisable to complete your
work as you go a ong, ohaving started
thes"drag" you proceed to cut up the
liver or other bait into small pieces of
about one or two inches square, taking
the precaution to handle it with the
fingers as little as possible. Now comes
the art of the whole business. Neatly
to. make a short, deep incision in one
side OF the square chunk of meat-press
the slit open as you hold it between the
thumb and the forefinger, ponr in few
grains Of strychnine, close the cut sides
together In the same way, and then pin
them together by means OF twig or
whitfield skewer long enough to allow
the pointed end to be thrust into the
ground, and thus leave the bait lifted
on the end of the skewer, two or three
inches from the grounds considered
. trick worth knowing.
There is seldom any difficulty after
the first experiment The main thing
y to see that The strychnine is not by
the breath or through q bruise or
scratch, taken into ones own system.
For this reason crystalIized strychnine
is safer than powdered The great
beauty OF liver bait is likewise here
shown, as It's peculiar adhesive proper
ties enable the aperture to be more
tightly closed than in the case of other
material.
The bait thus properly arranged must
be placed along the route of the drag"
at intervals of every few dozen yards,
or according to the prospective size Of
the circle 1t Is sometimes wise pro-
vision to have a small fire, and slightly
cook the bait after it is arranged on the
stick, so as to destroy any. scent OF
human flesh that may be upon it from
handling. But this is only necessary
when your field q action lies near to a
well-settled country where the wary
coyote has learned by many sad les
son to be cautious of anything that
bears on il the touch of his equally
shrewd enemy, man.
The philosophy OF all this is very
simple and natural The coyote, being
in the vicinity of human abodes in the
hope of picking up something astray,
scents the drag" and ere long he is
chasing that phantom supper round
the circle, when in the course of our
intention he comes across the bait, and
without any reverential pause to thank
his good luck, gobbles it, Not more
than another hundred yards are got
over before that coyote is very sick
animal, with something as near APP
proaching to a fit as any thing ever
looked. After slightly recovering and
crawling another few yards he is
seized with the second and fatal spasm,
and is pretty sure to die right there
and then.
Ten to one he is not alone in that
feast of folly, there being perhaps half
a-dozen more as indiscreet 1t is prob
able that several different packs of
coyotes will run over that drag" dur-
ing the self-same night, and should
they still find bait or attempt TO devour
their dead companions, there will be
the same dismal results The country
round camp will be spotted next morn
ing with disappointed and defunct
coyotes, but this will only bring a
heart less smile of satisfaction to your
face as you figure up how many dollars
Overland monthly.