Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1893-01-05
TRAPPING COYOTES.
a Difficult Way oao to Mako
Living.


set'ias Traps In tho sierra Foothills
ulrSiopme Guests That Arc ricnti.
Mt-Traits Of tho Western Terrory-
X Talks with an Old Hunter.
George Peck is an old-timer, having
CONS TO California some time in the
early iifties, and has had the usual cx-
pericncc of fortunel and misfortune,
mostly misfortune. lie has long since
quit hoping for u "strisc,o and Is now
= wandering, povcrty%tgclcn old
chap, keeping himself rs much as pos
siblc out Of the way of the world,
never looks at book or paper, mines
at odd spells" and hints thc greater
part OF tn, year. lately he has been
trapping along the Yuba, and has
pitched his tent on little flat known
us The Keystone.
There asc no valuable furs to be OBJ
tlined IN the lower foothills, but tho
coyotes are numerous on the keystone,
and MS the state pays q bounty of five
uo'lars for each scalp,an expert trappcr
can make enough to keep body and
soul together AMI have a little left over.
But he must be an expert. Tho gaunt,
hungry, saarling coyote is moro difli-
cult TO catch than u fox, and his habits,
likes and dislilsc3, runways and noe
trynal pgowlinys INST be learned by
the tsappcr bsfors he can expect 10
tax, noro than ia occasional scalp
The keystone Is fayoritc yclping
GROUND, and tho rugged hills, with
thick undcrgrowths, chaparral, cliffs
and caves that abound along the Yuba
Mt that point, furnish coy retreats for
hundreds of coyotes, foxes, coons, pole
cats and now and then IL mountain cat
or lynx. The polccats arc perhaps the
most numerous, and as they arc not
suspicious, prudent animals, relying
upon ther cilensiYcness to carry them
safely through life, arc great
nuisance to the traprer, who must,
when he has caught one, thoroughly
disinfcct his trap, not n pleasant or
easy task in the hills where water is
scarce and dcodorizing mate rails not
easily obtainablc.
Coyote" Peek, as he is called,
thoroughly understands the habits of
coyotes. When | met him, week ago,
he was crrrying four traps on his back
and doing his best TO keep out of sight
behind clump of manzunita bushes.
At first he was surly and gave short re-
plies to all my queries, but persistent
efforts thawcd the icincss Of his man
nci. and he asked me to accompany him
andsce how coyote trapping was car
ricd on.
ltwas quite carly in the forenoon,
and the canyon down which VIC picked
our way was vet cool. On either side
were Jagged, rocky sleeps, gashcd with
innumcrablc cracks and crcviccs in
which many nocturnal creatures were
probably asleep. In the dust one could
sec the tracks of coons, foxes, coyotes,
polccats, rats, mice and beetles.
They preys on one another" said
Peek. "1hcr's thousands on thousands
o. beetles yerc, an the coons al foxes
an'polecats is great fer sich things
They's in the rocks now"
'Doyou catch tine coons?"
"IIe, hcl should say do. Thcy's
no harder to catch than siunks. Iou
catch ono by the end of his lttlcst toe
an he'll jist get right down an stay
there loolsin' at his toe an studyin' the
trap, an like as not he won't be
through studyin' when You come in
tho mornin' Coons is easy, an foxes
amt hard, bat they hain'twuth nothin'
to me, so generally let's the coons lay
an the foxes, too, 'cept in the winter
when it's real cold. Then the foxes
hides is wuth thirty cents apiece.
Thcy's no good till the fur's on, see"'
We trampcd on for half IN hour, and
then, leaving the canyon, crossed a
little ridge whore 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 n minute later made rapid shot
ut something sitting in the shade not
far away. The animal shot was jack
rabbit.
II nearly allus gils one here" said
the old man. "Thcy's the best kind OF
bait for coyotes. I've tried vcnison an
b,ef mn all kinds of meat but jack
rabbit beats 'em all. Coyotes is very
narticular about their vttlcs. You'd
think ~ chicken would be better, cause
COYOTES is awful rough on chickens
when they finds 'cm in u coop, but
faint So The coyotes knows that
chickens is domestic fowls, an when
thcv secs one -hanyin' by its legs on a
trec four or five miles out in tho woods
they list looks at it in n suspicious way
M seq: rNhat you dom ont ycre, any
h ,w?' an they goes on. They knows
chicken amt got no business hangin'
hy its legs to tree in the woods. But
they knows jack belongs in the woods,
and they don't never seem to THINK
there's anything crooked when they
finds a Jack .hangin' by his legs. A
iacl5's their nat'ral food, for sure,
That's Why coyotes is SIGH powerful
runners. Whenever they catch jack
thcy's got to earn him fust' see9'
As Peck talked he gathered his traps
and the iaclsrabbit together, threw
them over his shoulder and trudged on
orain. We had easier walking now,
aad il was not long before another hare
started rp in front Of us. Peek dropped
his traps, and as the jack, which had
not been much frightened, loped softly
up the hill shot it dead. 1t was iine
shot and we'll worth praising, but the
old hunter smiled knowingly and said:
..Thats nuthin'. A boy kin do that
arter he knows how. That makes
bait enough for these four traps SO
VOL list set one of EN- we're.
With swipe Of the hunting knile
l. :. LIZ ll-