St. Paul daily globe., 1892-11-19
THE COYOTE TRss'0!oEER ER
Making the Rounds With
George Peck, One Of the
Old-TimerS.
Visit to the Many Devices
for the Catching Of Wild
Animals.
How the Various Traps Are
Baited and Cleansed With
Alcohol.
A Story Which Smells OF the
Chaparral and Cliffs OF
California.


5 keeping himself as much as possible out
of the way of the world, never looks at
book or paper, mines "at odd spells,
and hunts the greater part Of the year.
Lately he has been trapping along the
Yuba. and has pitched his tent on lit
!, tie fiat known as the Keystone says a
writer III the San Francisco Chronicle.
There are no valuable furs to be OBJ
tanned in the foothills, but the coyotes
are numerous OH the keystone, and as
the state pays bounty of s. for each
scalp an expert trapper can make
enough to keep body and soul together
and have little left over. But he must
be an expert. The gaunt, hungry, ,snarl-
ing coyote is more difficult to catch than
fox, and his habits, likes and diSiikcS,
runways and nocturnal prowlings must
be learned by the trapper before he can
expect to take more than an occasional
scalp.
The Keystone is a favorite yelping
ground, and the rugged hills, with thick
undergrowthS, ,chaparral, cliffs and caves
that abound along the Yuba at that
point furnish cosy retreats for hundreds
of coyotes, foxes, coonS, polecatS, and
now and then mountain cat or lynx.
The polecats are perhaps the most nu-
merOuS, and as they are not suspicious,
prudent animals, relying OH their Often
SiveneSS TO carry them safely through
| life, are great nuiSanceS to the trapper,
who must. when he has caught one.
thoroughly disinfect his trap, not a
pleasant or easy task in the hills where
| water is scarce and deOdorlZing mate
rials not easily Obtainable.
Trappin. the Coyotes.
Coyote" Peek as he is called, thor
oughly understands the habits of the
coyotes. When met him, week ago,
he was carrying four traps on his back
and doing his best TO keep out of sight
| behind clumD of manZanita bushes.
At first he was surly, and gave short
replies to all my queries, but persistent
efforts thawed the icinesS of his manner,
and he asked me to accompany him and
see how coyote trapping was carried on.
1t was quite early in the forenoon,
and the canyon down which we picked
our way was yet cool. On either side
were jagged, rocky sleeps, gashed with
innumefable cracks and crevices in
which many nocturnal creatures were
probably asleep. In the dust one could
see the tracks of coons, foxes, coyotes.
| polecatS, rats, mice and beetles.
They preyS on one another" said
| Peck. "rher'S thousands on thousands
o. beetles yere, an the cOons an foxes
an p0rcats is great fer sich things
| They's in the rocks now."
"Do you catch the coonsP'
"He, he! | should say l do. They's
no harder to catch than skunks. You
catch one by the end of his littlest toe
an he'll jist get right down an stay
4here lookin' at his toe an studyin' the
op,l lyoo hn hn rbrnnUh
Studyin' when you come in the mornn'.
Coons is easy, an foxes amt hard, but
they hain't wutb nothin' to me. so gen.
orally let's the c0ons lay, an the foxes,
too .'cept in the winter when it's real
cold Then the foxes hides is Wuth 30
cents apiece. They's no good till the
fur'S on, See?"
Rabbits for Bait.
We tramped OH for half all hour, and
| then, leaving the canyon, crossed lit
| tie ridge where the underground had
| been burned away and few scrubby
pines and oaks clustered about little
spring. Handing me his traps, Peck
stole cautiously ahead with his rifle, and
minute later made q rapid shot at
something sitting in the shade not far
| away. The animal shot was jack rab-
| bit.
81 nearly alluz gifts one here" said
the old man. "They'S the best kind of
bait for coyotes I've tried venison an
beef an all kinds Of meat, but jack rab-
bit beats 'em all. Coyotes is very par
ticular about their vittles. You'd
think chicken would be better, cause
covotes is awful rough on chickens
when they finds 'em in a coop; but
'tain't so. The coyotes knows that
chickens is domestic fowls, an when
they sees one a-hangin' by its legs Oh
tree four or five miles out in the woods
they Just looked at il in suspicious
way an sez, What you doin' out we're,
anyhow an they goes on. They
knows a chicken hain't get no business
hanging by it's legs on a tree in the
woods. But they knows a jack b'longs
in the woods, and they don't never
seems to think there's anythin' crooked
when they finds jack hangin' by his
legs. A jacks their narral food for
sure. That's why coyotes is slch pow
erful runners. Whenever they catch a
lack they's got to earn him fust. see?"
AS Peck talked he gathered his traps
and the jack-rabbit together, threw
them over his shoulder and trudged on
again We had easier walking now,
and it was not long before anather hare
started up in front of us. Peck dropped
his traps, and as the jack. which had
not been much frightened, loped softly
UP the hill side, shot it dead. 1t was a
fine shot and we'll worth praising, but
the old hunter smiled knowingly and
said:
That's nuthin,. A boy kin do that
arter he knows how. That makes bait
enough for these four traps, so Well jist
set one of 'em yere."
mi. nf
one OF the jack-rabbits was neatly
divided, and then one-half was fastened
to an oak sapling about four feet from
the ground. A few bits of the flesh
were scattered about the foot of the oak
and then a trap was set directly under
the hanging bait, and made secure with
the chain. No effort at concealmenI
was made, and | asked Peck about it.
Deceiving the Coyotes.
"Lord. man, what's the use? If | dig:
q hole an buries my trap over so nice
the coyotes III see there's something
buried an they'll get suspicious righ
away. No, stree. Never bnry you
tran fer coyotes. Jist set the jaws opeI
am tie 1t fast and flop il down an tn,
coyotes'll just think it's somethn' th'
lack rabbits has dropped there, an
whenthey jumps after that jack rabbi
down they comes with their fore Leg
into it. The way to catch coyotes is t
make 'em think you thinks they's al
fools, see?'
Another hour of tramping, and at it
expiration the other three traps Wer,
set and baited.
7: Now" said Peck, "if you don't mine
;, goin'. We'll take look at the traps a.
= was set Yesterday"
Again we set off across the low, roll
:. ing hills. at right angles with the can
yon, and tramped through q tangled
} maze of chaparral nntii we reached tn
4 lower edge of the Keystone range. A
es we skirted the flat the pungent aroma O
IS the mephtis was waited to us. and Peel
" swore long and loud.
: Another OF them burned skunks
Pye caught more'n twenty this week