The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-12-12
HOW WILD ANIMALS
ARE CAUGHT ALIVE
(San Francisco Examfner.)

,
Catching wild animals for the public
| ZOOS and private parks is the inter-
| eStilE 2nc adventurous occupation of
william Root Of Laramie Wyo. Dur
ing the past thirty years he has
/ ca -sht thousands Of wild animals.
Catching wild animals alive for the
market, says Mr.. Root, is just like
every other vocation; IT'S easy when
you know how
Take the elk, for instance. The
elk Is a big, strong animal, very fleet
OF foot, and ordinarily the capture of
one alive would be a good deal like
roping streak of lightning. But they
are not captured as you might go out
aha lass0 a steer.
The capture of elk is usually made
along in the early spring, A this sea
son, by reason Of the scarcity of food
the animals are not nearly so strong
as when food can be found anywhere
At this season, too, heavy wet snow
falls are frequent, and when one Of
sufficient depth comes the mountain
GERS form q party of from ten TO
twenty and start out on snowshOes.
Being wei acquainted with the
habits of the elk. it is co-Daratively
easy for the hunters TO locate a herd.
and then the chase begins. The snow
being deep and wet, the elk find great
difficulty in laundering through it,
while the men on snOwshoes can travel
LOiii i1dl dllNClN last 4 ne result Is THAT
the younger members Of the herd soon
become exhausted and fall an easy
prey to their DursueTs.
AS soon as an elk falls from ex
haustiOn or is OveTtaken and rOped, it
is hOg-tied, and the hunters leave it
and continue the chase after the main
herd. One by one the young elk are
captured. and from FIVE to ten are
frequently taken on a hunt. The
captured elks are thrown on sleds and
taken to a strong corral, where they
are liberated In a few days they are
almost as gentle as cows, and take TO
hay as readily as a range steer might
The demand for wolves is by no
means heavy, but when they are
wanted i is the young ones that we
60 after They usually have to be dug
out Of holes. and the task is labori-
Gus one. Young wolves occasionally
also are caught in traps If caught
while young they can be tanned with
comparative ease, although they are
not the kind of animal 10 tie to-
Hunting bears in the west is not
what it used to be. The bear is a wise
old guy. who looks like a farmer. but
isn't. The bears that you see in ZOOS
and circuses are usually caught when
quite young. Nobody wants to waste
his time in training an old bear You
hear many funny stories concerning
experiences with bears
The FUNNIEST JnlnS OF the KIM lILdL
[ ever witnessed was Just over the
wyoming Colorado line back in 70 A
number of prOspectors had pitched
camp in the foothills, and one of the
party. jim Henley, started out one
morning with a double-barrelled shot
gun to kill some sage hens He mad
gone up along a ridge above camp,
and was feeling along through the
sage brush. when he ran onto bear
digging yampa root
'.The bear didn't know that anybody
was near, and probably never would
have been any wiser If Henley hadp'
Dumped two loads OF birdshOt into Vim.
The only effect was to make the bear
angry, and ne promptly started for
Henley. who headed for camp on
dead run. We heard him yelling as he
touched the high places, with the bear
in hot pursuit and as he came into
camp he cried
.. Here we come, boys, secure your
meat
Henley always was funny euss.
AS the bear reached camp he paused
TO get his bearings, and couple OF
shots from a IS settled him.