St. Paul daily globe., 1892-11-19

an it pears like there's twenty thousand
of 'em left.'
Sure anough. the first trap held a
skunk, and the little animal. which had
pulled and :squ!gped fesr hours. was
standing 5tlll; looking at US with p.tcou.
eyes aid trembling with pain. The
ssncl! was s!ceeeninc, and Peck stopped
me 1T a safe distai1tee.
You stay yere. lest you get the smell
OH yer feet, AN I'll fix 'in.'
A Well-diIected shot killed the skunk,
and the old man pulled it from the trap
and heaved it away with grupt ofidis-
gust. Then he united the trap. ard,
taking from his pockets flannel rag
and a bottle with large neck, rubbed
the contents over the trap.
''What is that stuff" - zrs
"Aleohol and assafitty," returned
Peck, testify. at kills the smell, sotae
of it, an the coyotes like it, too, but
rain't as good as 1t might be-"
The disinfecting process did not re.
quire much time, and when it was fin
lshed PECK had acquired new flavor,
which was not pleasant. but he did not
seem to mind it. Tie trap was taken
up anu carried to new location and
set in runway without bait.
II IL OO ~ uos vi CNO AMY tutCii
anything in that trap" said Peck.
"Some fellers buries their traps to make
'em clean, but | jst uses alcohol and
asaftty. The best stuff for cleanin' is
sulphuric acid an water, cause that
cuts oft everything. but you've got to
put asafitty OH anyway to kill the smell
of the acid: see? Coyotes likes the
smell of asafitty. an I've caught some
by dragging little bag of it over the
ground fer mile or so an then Settin'
down with my rifle to watch the trail.
They'll foller it sure if it's early in the
mornin' an the grass is damp"
The Captives In the Traps.
Nine more traps were visited. Five
Of them held skurkS, one a fox. two
were not sprung, and one had captured
coyote. The skunks and the fox were
killed at once, and Peck was fairly wild.
1T does seems though there amt
nothin' here but skunks! Ii they was
worth 10 cents apiece and didn't smell
so internal I'd make fortune, sure.
The onery things is jist swarmin', and
they glts caught to spite ME. L know
it,"
The coyote was large specimen of
muscular stary alton. The long, 1.-the
body, with its shaggy hair. the small.
furtive eyes and sneering, Snarling
mouth made a threatening picture.
Long before we reached the trap we
could hear the chain rattle as the coy
ote, frantic with fear and pain, sprung
back and forth in fruitlesS effort to eS-
cape. Peck was in better humor now.
and when he had shot the captive,
taken off the scalp, flung the carcass
away and reset the trap he talked coy
Ote" at rapid rate.
ITS funny they allus gifts caught by
the fore feet-alluS. Now, q fox or coon
)r Il wildcat I'll git caught by the hind
legs sometimes, but a coyote never does.
It's allus the front foot that goes into the
trap. This yere feller is the third Eve
caught in the last week. That amt bad,
jut | expect to do better afore long,
cause the sleeps comm down from
he mountains now, and the coyotes
tolers the sheep. No, | couldn't do
better on the plains. Eve tried it there.
There's no trees to hang your bait on,
IN it's TOO settled up-there'S too many
logs"
"Did you ever try TO raise any coy
)tesw
"Yas, onct. l had two cubs in the
Mountains last year. L thought I'd go
nto coyote raisin' OH big scale an
the state, but it wouldn't
work. AS soon as the cubs was growed
Up they KEEP me so busy huntin' for
eed for 'en that iist got tired an shot
EN-. They'S treacherous brutes, too.
m they bites wicked. A big one'l
whip a pritty good dog If he's cor
lered."