Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1896-01-18
TRAPPING MR.. COYOTE.
A Favorite Sport of Boys Who Live Near
the Western Prairies.

A Favorite Sport of Boys Who Live Near
the Western Prairies.
Only half the boys of the extreme
west know anything about Mr.. Coyote.
Twin brothers to the gray wolf, uncle
to brer fox and cousin to the COM;
monest cur that sinks in the dark cor
ners of back alleys, little coyote is a
queer, sly, disreputable fellow indeed.
In looks he is sometimes handsome,
sometimes awful-a regular bad dream,
of a thing. 1t is when he is fat and well
covered with fur that he appears WELL,
for his sharp, intelligent face, with its
standing ears, is not unlike that of the
fox, while the tail is splendid brush.
long and thick. His color, when he Is
healthy, is grayish, shading into light
tawny brown on his legs and to
whittier gray on his breast and stomach.
But, oh, when he is thin and dirty and
almost hairless! What thing he isl
1t is his life in the sage brush and on
the plains and deserts that reduces
him to his pitiable condition. Always
a coward, he is easily driven away from
his food by any other animal that is at
all aggressive, and so he starves fire.
quently, and his contact with the al
kali of the deserts is too much for his
hair. 1t gets discouraged and falls out
as if he had been moth-eaten. The
long grayish-brown covering of his
bushy tail is strewed along his path
until only barren, bony thing is left
for him to wag, while along hir back
and sides great bare patches show his
cold, shivering hide, under which the
bones are all too plainly apparent.
Mr.. Coyote lives on what he can catch
or steal or find dead. Rabbits, squirrels
and gophers are his game. Sheep,
young calves, chickens, turkeys and
| ducks are what he finds easiest to
take from the farmer, and most any
carrion allures him from afar to fin his
empty inside. He pokes around alone,
if there be plenty of hunting, and two
or three get together when "times are
little rough" When desperate the
coyotes band together, and then starva-
tion makes them nearest to courageous
than they ever become. And they are
never long in one locality be they alone
or in couples or packs, without letting
the neighbors find it out. They howl
dismal, woful, forlorn sound it is.
When two are together they make the
most and worst racket. So artful do
they manage the duet" of yelps, barlts
and howls that almost anyone would
say the two were 90, and all mighty
singers ut that.
When war has been waged against
them by many farmers for any length
of time the coyotes become very
"scarce" and exceedingly sharp about
walking into or upon any trap. But
when boldness and daring are in them,
as result of too much liberality. they
may be taken in steel traps quite readi-
ly. There are various "baits" that will
attract them, but dead animal or a
sleeps lungs from the slaughter house
is as good as can be found. Of course,
; in the case of the dead animal, it is
usually dragged out into the sage
brush, far from any house, and then the
traps, which should be three or four in
number, are set where they will be
stepped upon if Mr.. Coyote approaches
to take bite.
In the other case the best plan is as
follows: Tying a rope to the bait, the
trapper carries it, with two traps, out
into the brush until he is some distance
from any house. He then throws il
down and drags it with the rope for q