The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-02-01
COYOTES and CANNES
Using the Dogs to Capture the Pests
And Secure Bounty.

Jim Kelley and Tom Went at 1t For All
There Was In 1t, but According to Mrs
Tom They Never Got Scalp-The Won.
en- Were Skeptical All the Time.
Does your husband love dogs-that is,
does he have laundering after every prom
Using pup that he sees? And when man
has the dog mania every pup looks prom
ising from the mangiest little poodle to
the offspring of the big mongrel cur that
s good for nothing but to bark and aid
IN the consumption of home products.
When we lived on farm in Nebraska,
my husband never had but one attack,
and that did not last long, but it was Sc
we're while it did last. You see, it was that
hard winter. The men didn't have much
to do, for they didn't raise any crops to
take care of. They were obliged to sell off
the stock until they had very little to feed
and very little to feed them with.
Money, too, was scarce, and my Tom
and Jim Kelley conceived the idea OF
hunting coyotes to pass away the time
and replenish their purses with the boun-
ty money. But as the coyotes did not
walk up and tender their scalps the men
concluded that they would have to 60 and
fetch them. The most important factor
in the fetching business was dogs. We
already had one-a surly old fellow called
Watch. Jim Kelley had four, but there
was nothing remarkable about any of
them except old Spring. She could really
catch a coyote if she wanted to, but she
didn't always want to, and it didn't seem
to worry the coyote at all when she did
catch him. She needed assistance, that
was certain.
Our Watch had the staying qualities, il
dogs enough could be obtained to interest
the intended victim until he got there.
Tom found enc dog down town that
looked as if he could run and enticed him
home. Then he ran across superannu-
ated old greyhound, an almost exact coun-
tie, part of Kelley's Spring. To be sure, she
was too old to run and had to be kept in
the house in bad weather. Her teeth were
poor, and she must be fed on soft feed, but
Tom was certain she would raise pups that
would pick up coyotes like 3sbird does
bugs, so babied old Dolly with a pretty
good grace for his sake dealing in fu-
tures' didn't ill the bill for the present,
SO Tom cast about again and procured two
nearly grown hounds, and he and Jim
Kelley, who had been equally successful,
started out with force of 10 dogs.
The coyotes were making nights hid
eous with their howls and getting fat off
our poultry, but some way they didn't
seem SO plenty in the daytime. Surely the
dogs could catch one if they saw it and
kill it after it was caught, but several
days passed, and not coyote was sighted.
I'D al IL, loo Non
much deliberation the men concluded it
was trail hounds.
A week later and two more dogs had
been added to the force. One was young
and undeveloped-thati is, nothing had de-
veloped but her voice. pack of coyotes
was nowhere where noise was concerned.
The other was a genuine, mature trailer.
Tom and Jim expected some rare sport
when they again set forth. The old hound
soon struck trail, and off he went, bel
lowing enough to scare every coyote out of
the country. Dogs and horsemen fol-
lowed.
sIsn't it grand?"
HThat's good work"
"Hes getting it down fine now"
"Just hear him! He must be close onto
it.''
Such were the frequent EXPLANATIONS Of
the enthusiastic hunters.
From the noise they could tell that the
chase was circling, and soon they came
in sight-pursued and pursuer, the dog
was some 20 rods behind-a big jack rab-
bit.
They tried to call him off and then ran
in ahead of him. Confused by their inter
ference, he turned back on the trail and
Hoped, baying, away.
"Confeund that dogi" said Kelley.
"He'n run himself to death and follow
that track back to where he started"
They spurred up their horses aid inter-
oepted him again, but he only went off in
some other direction. Then they set the
other dogs On him and ran their brag trail
err down, reped him, and thoroughly dis
gusted started for home.
The winter wore away with frequent
repesitions of that days chase. The men
couldn't see what was lacking, unless 1t
was dogs, and whenever they found new
one they took it in. There were gray
hounds and yellow hounds and spotted
hounds and black hounds and dogs that
were not hounds at all, and there were old
dogs, young dogs and little pups and big
pups and pups at all ages.
One couldn't open the door but they
came in the house-couldn't 60 out of
doors after night but he fell over one or
two. If one karked, they all barked, es-
pecially the trailers. IT they were let loose,
they fought; so they had to be tied, some
with ropes, some with chains and one with
the clothesline. If it showed, they were
put in the barn. in the henhouse or in the
house.
1t was slightly inconvenient, and things
were becoming uncomfortable. The at
mosphere in the house grew warm occa-
and when Tom came home and,
as usual, told nae Of another fine pup that
he could get quietly suggested that it
would be conducive to that pups health
to stay on its native heath.
Mrs. Kelley felt very much as 7 did on
The dog question, and Jim and Tom consid-
sred themselves mueh abused men to be
deprived of legitimate and profitable
sport just for the lack of dogs. 1t would
have taken the entire produce of good
sized ranch to have kept those dogs had
not fate favored them. Many cattle died
around the neighborhood, and as "what
was fun for the boy was death for the
frogs" so what was death to the stock was
fun for the dogs. They grew sleek and
IL