The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1893-01-20
thev's all durn fools. see?'

expiration the OIilcr lhfSS traps NSAS
set and baited.
Now" SAID Peck, IF you don't mind
goin' wen take a look at the traps as
was set Yesterday"
Again we set off across the low, roll
ing hills, at right angles with the
CANYON. and tramped through a tangled
maze of chaparral until we reached the
lower edge of the keystone range. As
we skirted the fiat the pungent aroma
of the mephitis was waited To us and
Peck swore long and loud.
Another of them burned skunks!
I've caught more'n twenty this week,
an IL pears like there's twenty thou
sand of 'em left"
Sure enough, the first trap held a
skunk, and the little animal, which had
pulled and squirmed for hours, was
standing still, looking al us with piteous
eyes and trembling with pain The
smell was sickening. and Peck stopped
me at a safe distance.
You stay yere, lest you get the smell
on yer feet, an I'll fix i'm"
a wcll-dirccted shot killed the
skunk, and the old man pulled it from
the trap and heaved IL away with
grunu of disgust Then he united the
trap, and taking from his pocket 4
flannel rag and a bottle with large
neck rubbed the contents over the
trap.
What is that stuff?''
Alcohol an asafitty," returned
Peck, testify. 1t kills the smell,
some of it, an the coyotes like it too.
but t amt as good a. 1t might be "
The disinfecting process did not re-
quire much time, and when it was
finished Peck had acquired a new
flavor which was not pleasant, but he
did not seem to mind it The trap was
taken up and carried To a new location
and set in a runway without bait
It'll be day or two afore / catch
anything in that trap" said Peck
Some fellers buries their traps to
make 'em clean, but l jist uses alcohol
and asafitty. The best stuff for clean
in is sulphuric acid an water, cause
that cuts off everything, but you've got
to put asafitty on 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 IL over
the ground fer mile or so an then
settin' down with my rifle to watch the
trail. They'll foller ii sure if it's early
in the mornin' an the grass is damp"
Nine more traps were visited. Five of
them held slxunks, one a fox, two were
not sprung and one had captured Il
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 ten cents apiece an didn't smell
so Internal I'd make fortune sure
The ornery things is jist swarmin'-
and they gifts caught TO spite me.
know it,
The coyote was large specimen of
muscular starvation. The long, 1.-THE
body. with its shaggy hair. the small,
furtive eyes and Sneering, sn2rling
mouth made threatening picture
Long before we reached the trap we
could hear the chain rattle as the coy
ote, frantic with fear and pain. sprang
back and forth in fruitlcSs efforts to
escape. Peek was in better humor
now. and when he had shot the captive,
taken off the scalp, flung the carcass
away and reset the traph talked coy
ote'' at a rapid rate.
Its funny, they allus gifts caught by
the fore feet; allus. Now. a fox or a
coon or the wildcat II get caught by the
hind legs sometimes, but coyote never
docs II dlluS lNt lToil lOoI llldI
goes into the trap. This we're feller is
the third I've caught in the last week.
That amt bad; but expect to do bet
ter afore long, cause the Sleeps comm
down from the mounta ins now, an the
coyotes follers the sheep No, /
couldn't do better on the plains. I've
tried it there There's no trees to hang
your bait on, an it's too settled up;
there's too many dogs"
Did you ever try to raise any coy
otes?"
'.Yas. onct- / had two cubs in the
mountains last year. / thought I'd go
into coyote raisin' on big scale an
bankrupt the state, but II wouldn't
work. AS soon as the cubs was growed
up they KEEP me busy hunJin' for
feed for 'em that | jist got tired an
shot EN- They's trcacherous brutes.
too, an they bites wicked. a big
onc'll whip pretty good dog if he's cor
nered.
I've seed a good many different
ways of trappin' of 'em, but this way.
with steel traps baited with jaclIrab-
bits, is the best ed tell you an ayv-
full lot bout coyotes, but ! amt got
time now I've got to go ont an hunt
up some meat for myself. Come to my
shanty some day an mebbe we'll have
some o. the states venison."
And Coyote" Peck, giving his Win
chester fiirt that landed II on his
shoulder, t=rned quickly away and
tramped out of sight in the thickets,
leaving me alone, tired, hungry and
burdened with the faint flavor of some
thing which makes the most fearless
chicken shudder with fear when it
steals over the roost.-San Francisco
Chronicle