Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1896-09-18
SHEPHERDS On WHEELS.
Bicycles Used by Sheep Mon In
California.
Tho Machine supplansing tas hsras on
the Piains-Herders Run Down
Ccyotss on Their Novel
Btesds-

4
uerdinR sheep on bicycle is an in
novation introduced by Frank Smith
on the wide, roadlcss plains lying be,
tween Fresno slough and the foothills
of the coast range, in the western par.
OF Fresno county. Perhaps the wheel
will not come into general use for that
purpose, as it is nearly always imprac-
ticable to ride a bicycle over ranges
where sheep find pasturage, but nature
has provided ono Of the finest courses
in the world on the open plains of the
west side, where the ground is as level
as floor, and the wheelman can often
ride fifty miles without changing his
course, and all the time over country
where roads are almost unknown, and
where not fence or a ditch interpose
to stop the journey. The cabins of a
Few homesteaders sometimes meet the
view, dotting the horizon here and
there, but aside from these there is lit
tie or no evidence Of civilization in all
the country as far as the eye can
reach.
That region is a dead waste, almost
without vegetation, except during the
rainy weeks of winter and early spring.
When the hot weather comes the short
growth Of alfilaria dries and the winds
sweep every vestige of it from the face
OF the earth, leaving the ground smooth
and level as race course.
This season the unusual rains and the
phenomenal warmth have produced a
growth of verdure such as has seldom
been known there, covering the earth
like a carpet. The sheepmen have
driven their herds to that quarter from
all sides because pasturage there costs
nothing. Frank Smith, who has charge
of several herds, breaks the monotony,
says the San Francisco Chronicle, by
gliding on his wheel from band to band,
thus dispensing with horse and deriv-
ing pleasure from what was before
work. He can round up herd quicker
than a dog can do it. The dogs seem to
view the bicycle with disgust, and look
upon it as the latest device Of labor
saving machinery.
The most novel experience Is IN nd
ing after coyotes, which always hang
upon the outskirts of band of sheen,
ready to put sick or crippled one out
of its misery the moment the herder's
back is turned. A coyote is able to
keep ahead Of bicycle, and enjoys the
exercise for the first few miles. But
when he has had an hour or two Of the
sport, and the tireless and unfiagging
wheel continues to hang upon his line
# retreat, the fun begins to wear off,
and the long-eared galloper of the
plains realizes that the transaction is
not intended as a joke. BY the time
another hour has passed, and ten or
dozen miles more Of the level plain
have been measured off, and the re-
morseless wheel continues not more
than two hundred and twenty yards in
the rear, or perhaps has gained little,
the situation becomes decidedly I'M
pleasant for the coyote. The smile of
scorn that curled his lip during the first
ten miles of the race, as he looked back,
first over one shoulder then over the
other, gradually disappears soon after
the second ten miles is entered upon.
The animal looks back as often as ever,
but the expression on his impudent
face seems to say that the joke has
been carried far enough, and he is will
ing to play quits if the wheel is willing.
The coyote is long-windcd animal,
and it takes good whcelman to ride
one down. Under ordinary circum-
stances is impossible, for he will
strike for thiclSet when he discovers
that it is to be survival of the fittest.
But on the west side plains there are SO
few places of conccalIncnt and the
prairics are so level and limitless that
the coyote may have to run two or three
hours before he can find cover. The
after part Of such run is weary one
for him. He may be able to escape,
but sometimes he falls victim to the
revolver Of the wheelman, and once in
awhile he is lassoed, although in such
a case he must be shot anyway, for his
teeth are called into action as soon as
he finds himself at the end of rope.
Besides, he is apt to jerk the rider off
his wheel by sudden turns.
The jackrabbit is not SO noble game |
ms the coyote from the point of view of |
the bicyclist, but is harder to run down. |
1t is not because of greater speed or
greater endurance, but because the
rabbit will not run very far in a
straight line. When it finds itself pur-
sued it may run in one direction for
awhile, but it soon doubles back, and
from that time on it runs in circles or
more probably in an angular course,
iefying the whcclman. and continually
keeping out of range of the pistol.
Efforts have been made two or three
times to run down the only antelope in
central California, perhaps, but the ef-
forts did not meet with success, because
hose animals never venture very far
rom the foothills of the coast range.
and when pursued they run for rough
ground. An antelope, after it has drunk
is fill, could not outrun a bicycle ten
niles on smooth ground. The animals
ire swift for mile or two, but they
'anno' :eep up their pace long at a
lime. Those in Fresno county have
heir homo in tho brrch l,,o l- |