The St. Johns herald., 1893-12-21
A SCUURGE OF WOLVES.
Montana and Texas Cattle Killed
 by the Ravenous Beasts.
Stock Raisers in These States Are at a Loss for Some Means to Save Their Young Cows and Horses iron:
 Destruction.


 Destruction.
 Wolves are the great bane of the stock-raising industry in the west and southwest, and how to get rid of them or even to prevent their increase is just now of most serious concern to ranch men. The trouble is not confined to any one section, for stories of havoc among stock and of helplessness to cope with the pest come alike from points in western Texas and in eastern Montana.
 At the recent annual meeting of the Montana stock growers the surprising fact was stated and corroborated by ranchmen from all parts of the state that during the past two years twenty five per cent. of the young calves and ten per cent. of the colts on the ranges have been destroyed by wolves. The sheep men of Texas agree that they suffer from the depredatiOns of wolves more than from any other cause, and estimate their average loss at twenty per cent. of their f1ccks. J. M. Camp bell, who has one of the largest ranches in western Texas near Del Rio, where he has flock of twelve thousand head of sheep, says he has had over three thousand head killed by coyotes or wolves during the past year.
 The number of wolves does not di minish. ''The fact is," says a Montana newspaper, "that wolves have increased in vast numbers within the past three Ill I1 1o. destruction have hitherto failed" And MT. Campbell says of Texas: ''The wolves are becoming so numer- ous and bold that it is no trouble to trap and shoot them; but their num- bers do not seem to decrease" His fellow sheepmen say that the losses to their focks from the depredations of the wolves in the past few years have equaled, and in many cases exceeded, the profits from the business. Men who have raised sheep in Australia and other countries say there is no better country in the world for sheep raising than Texas, but for the wolves.
 How wolves may kill sheep is not difficult to conceive. Killing young steers and colts is a bolder job The wolf, preying alone or as one of a band, picks out fine young animal, leaps on it's hind quarters and cuts the ten dons of the leg. The animal is crip- pied and the feast is easy for the wolf or the pack. Usually but little of the animal thus killed is devoured, for the wolf prefers fresh meat, and calves and colts and sheep are plentiful and easy prey.
 How to get rid of the wolves is a problem much essayed but still wholly unsolved. The Montana stock growers debated it for six hours and left the case open. The unanimous opinion was that only two suggestions were considered at all workable, one for their externination by stag hounds and the old one of bounty to hunters. The sly beast will not touch pois- oned carcass unless driven by ex- treme hunger, a condition unlikely with young stock so plentiful and easy to slaughter. The stockmen say that strychnine, even when eaten, for some strange reason or other, now rarely takes effect on a wolf. Offering an in- creased bounty is an expensive and risky business. It might mean as much expense as the loss of the stock the wolves kill, for if the bounty were large wolf scalps would be imported from Canada and neighboring states for bounty purposes.
 MT. Campbell, the Texas sheep raiser quoted, has a new scheme for extermi- hating the pest, about which he is very hopeful. He trapped seven wolves re- gently and penned them with a dog badly afflicted with the mango. In several weeks the wolves had all caught the disease, and, having made it sure that they had it bad, MT. Campbell turned them loose in Val Verde county, Tex. He believes that the disease will spread so rapidly that within two years that there will not be healthy wolf in Texas. Dogs afflicted with mango do not breed, and die in a short time, and he believes the same effect will hold good in the case of the wolves. Mir. Campbell proposes that the legis- lature should establish stations in every county in western Texas for the preparation of mango among wolves. The sheepmen in his section have great faith in his experiment, and with stock men in other parts of the union are looking with much interest for results.
 A Snake Laboratory Founded.
 An enlightened Bengali, Babu Go- wind Chandra Laha, has contributed fifteen thousand rupees toward the ex- penses of a snake laboratory at Cal