Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1898-05-19
FRIENDLESS COYOTE.
TRICKS OF HIS ENEMIES TO MAKE
MONEY OUT OF HIM.

TRICKS OF HIS ENEMIES TO MAKE
MONEY OUT OF HIM.
A County That Paid Bounty Twelve Times
on the Same Set of Scalps-In Spite Of
Wholesale Killing, the 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. If he is adapted to any sphere
Of usefulness on earth, nobody has yet
been shrewd enough to find it out; if he
has ever done respectable deed, it has
not yet come to light. The jack rabbit
will at least furnish the basis for
savory stew in case of need, the buffalo
was valued for it's hide, the rattles of
the rattlesnake are worth preserving for
curiosities, but there is yet to be div
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 at 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
for the wild creatures of the plains who
had before been undisturbed. Then the
coyote had to 60 out among men, and hs
found that he was very unpopular I'M
migrant into any Of the communities
that he favored with his presence. And
he earned the right to SO be considered
honestly. He robbed the sheepfolds,
stole the chickens and made the travek
er afraid-all without any equivalent
in service. Furthermore, he is essen
TALLY a coward. The men of the from
tier have sort of respect for the brave
creature that defes 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
blazes away with his old shotgun at the
prowling coyote behind the barn to the
city sportsman who wastes a cartridge
intended for prairie chicken or duck
in ending the life of a wolf trotting
along the hedgerow, there is ceaseless,
unrelenting war waged against the
luckless wanderer.
Since the immigration of the wolves
from the territory into the farming and
stock raising states to the north there
has been more than a desultory war
fare The farmers have banded together
to protect the flocks and herds and
have offered generous bounties for the
scalps Of the creatures, proceeding
that has resulted in the slaughter of
thousands. Yet the supply seems none
the less, and all the sharpshooting is
but a waste Of powder and balls. Year
after year there are reported from l, 600
to 1900 sheep killed in Nebraska and
Kansas by wolves, and the hundreds Of
dollars spent for bounties have produced
little diminution of the plague
Sometimes the bounties are not what
they are purported to be- The people Of
western county found once that they
were being taxed very heavily for the
payment of this sort of expense and
that certain hunters were buying new
farms out of the proceeds of their PROV
ess on the plains. An examination fol-
lowed, and it was found that there was
ison with which the greenbacks and
gold reserve make but feeble showing.
at the rear of the county clerks Office.
where the redeemed scalps were thrown,
was convenient opening in the wall,
and through this the scalps were pulled
in the night, to be presented at the
counter in the morning for another
bounty of So each 1t was estimated that
the county had paid for one set of scalps
not less than IL times, and the empti-
ness Of the treasury was explained. Tbs
saddest part of the happening was that
the schemers saw the investigators at
the hole and became bounty jumpers at
once-jumping the county for safer
chimes.
Another curious circumstance was
noticed by the officers of two counties
adjoining in central Kansas. The officers
Of one were paying out money every
day for wolf scalps while the others sell
dom had any demands for the reward.
Each Of the hunters was compelled to
swear that be had killed the wolf inside
the boundaries of the county where the
scalp was presented, and there was no
reason for doubling the truth of the tes-
timony. But what could be the reason
of the disparity in the claims? One day
a settlers son was questioned:
where did you kill this wolff
down near the edge of the county"
care coyotes very thick there?''
"Well, rather, though not so thick az
they are farther south"
"Over in the other county?'
eyes, there are more there.
"But they do not kill any there
Why is it?''
"The other county only pays 81 for
scalps and this pays So. So we drive
them over the line before we shoot
them.
The county officers at once readjusted
the scale of rewards. Chicago Times.
Herald