The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-02-01
FRIENDLESS COYOTE.
TRICKS OF HIS ENEMIES TO MAKE
MONEY ouI-oF HIM.
A County That Paid Bounty Twelve Times
On the Same Set Of scslps--In Spite of
Wholesale killing. tho Pest Does Not
Appear to Decrease.

The one friendless, hunted Ishmaelite
OF the plains, against whom is every
mans hand, is the prairie wolf-the
coyote. IL he II adapted to any sphere
OF usefulness on earth, nobody has yet
been shrewd enough to find it out IL he
has ever done respectable deed. IL has
not yet come to light. The jack rabbit
will at least furnish the basis for
sayory stew in case of need, the buffalo
was valued for its hide, the rattles of
the rattlesnake are worth preserving for
curiosities, but there is yet TO be dis
covered method Of utilizing any por-
ton of the coyote from his snarling
mouth to his ragged tail-except as a
Fertilizer. The short grass country is
his home. the high prairies where the
gray, hairlike vegetation that is called
pasture blends with the dirty coat of
the vandal. Through it he sneaks and
runs, now gaunt figure ON the horizon,
now an ungainly shape near at hand.
he Is without acquaintance with any
thing that is alive, usually solitary, al
ways with criminal aspect, as if he
had Just done something to be ashamed
OF or was contemplating deed of the
sort ut the earliest opportunity.
once the coyote had the whole Indian
Territory to himself. He could snarl
and fight to his hearts content, and
there was none to say Him nay But
when the lands were opened to settle
ment and family took its place on ev-
cry quarter section there was less room |
Tor the wild creatures of the plains who |
had before been undisturbed. Then the |
coyote had to go out among men, and he |
found that he was a very unpopular i'm |
migrant into any of the communities ]
that he favored with his presence. And
ne earned the right to 30 be considered
honestly. He robbed the sheepfolds,
stole the chickens and made the travel.
or afraid-all without any equivalent
In service Furthermore, he is essen.
tally coward. The men of the from |
tier have sort Of respect for the brave
creature that defies them or for the
cunning one that outwits them, but
they can never forgive the trembling
one that is alarmed at their very ap-
pearance. So, from the farmer son who
olazes away with his old shotgun at the
coyote behind the barn to the
,ity sportsman who wastes a cartridge
intended Tor prairie chicken or duck
ending the life of wolf trotting
'iong the hedgerow, there is a ceaseless,
war waged against the
uckless wanderer.
Since the immigration of the wolves +,
rom the territory into the farming and
lock raising states to the north there !.
las been more than desultory war
are. The farmers have banded together i
protect the f1ocks and herds and r
ave offered generous bounties for the C
caips OF the creatures, q proceeding I
hat has resulted in the slaughter of A
housands. Yet the supply seems none
ne less, and all the sharpshooting is
ut waste of powder and balls. Year
tier year there are reported from !, 400
1000 sheep killed in Nebraska and o
.ansas by wolves. and the hundreds of c
ollars spent for bounties have produced
title diminution of the plague. O
sometimes the bounties are not what r,
ley are purported to be. The people Of
western county found once that they a,
ere being taxed very heavily for the VI
OF this sort of expense and
lat certain hunters were buying new u
rms out of the proceeds of their PROV.
q on the plains An examination fol. a.
wed, and it was found that there was
existence an endless chain in compar O.
on with which the greenbacks and II
I'D reserve make but feeble showing. -
the rear OF the county clerks Office. =,
here the redeemed scalps were thrown, u
rs a convenient opening in the wall. &C
ID through this the scalps were pulled Il
the night to be presented at the &C
uhter IN the morning for another or
unity OF $8 each. 1t was estimated that m
9 county had paid for one set of scalps O.,
u less than IL times, and the empti-
ss OF the treasury was explained. The =
Oldest part OF the happening was that \
9 schemers saw the investigators at N
hole and became bounty jumpers at a
ce-Jumping the county for safer
mes. 81
Another curious circumstance was
ticed by the officers of two counties i.
Joining In central Kansas. The officers IS
one We're paying out money every
for wolf scalps while the others sell
m had any demands for the reward. SC,
Oh OF the hunters was compelled to los
ear that he had killed the wolf inside sic
boundaries of the county where the &c.
lip was presented, and there was no les
'son for doubling the truth of the tes- III, ST
nony. But what could be the reason wv
the disparity in the claims? One day
ettler's son was questioned: Re-
Where did you kill this wolff"
Down near the edge of the county" :
Are coyotes very thick there?'' 7
We'll, rather, though not so thick as 1
y are farther south"
Over in the other county?"
Yes, there are more there"
But they do not kill any there.
~ is it?''
The other county only pays 81 for
lips and this pays 81. So we drive
I'M over the line before we shoot
m"