Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-08-21

times ne mas caused them to go miles
IN his pursuit by an artful change in
his voice. while the animal would
meanwhile slip to the poultryhouse
and snatch a fat hen Old-time hunt
ers never give heed to the howis of
coyotes at night. because they know
from unhappy experiences how easily
they may be led a fools errand by a
sly old coyote, who would draw the
hunters away from camp and then
adroltly hasten there and make off
with a toothsome chunk The coyote
knows how to employ a decoy, and
many a ranchman or settler tells of
times that he has been allured out to
shoot peculiarly noisy coyote, who
not only escaped, but permitted an
other coyote to get a fowl from the
roost during the chase.
The coyote is wag, also, and. like
most wags, he is timid. Some people
who do not know him call him a
sneaking coward. That is one reason
he is SO unwisely and generally dis
pissed. But the coyote is sensible
enough to know that he is no match
with his scant 80 pounds, and with
out claws and heavy jaws, against a
man or big beast. He must use
artifice to earn his livelihood. and he
can only escape destruction by out
whiting mankind. Many generations
OF contact with men has made him a
remarkable beast.
Curiosity is a prominent character
1stlc of the coyote Monkeys and
chimpanzees have the same marked
trait The cowboys, soldiers, miners
and hunters on the frontier all tell of
the uncomfortable curiosity of the
coyote. If a stampede of cattle oc-
ours on a plain, a dozen places of
vantage are likely to be occupied at
once, by coyotes, all sitting on hind
legs, like so many Interrogation
points, while they watch the scene of
the believing, cavorting cattle with
deep interest. When the stampede
becomes so fierce that cattle are
knocked down and tramped to death.
the coyotes howl, even in the daytime.
at the prospect of a big meal off the
fresh meat while the cowboys have
gone miles away with the maddened.
prancing herd
Among the only bits of humor in
the folklore of the Indians of the
southwest is story about a great
spirit coyote that once had a jack
rabbit served it, but the coyote was
already so full of food that it would
eat no more. The fun is in the fact
that no living coyote ever declined to
eat The coyote seems to have a
creed that he must not even dream of
having had enough to eat His main
object in life seems to be the salts
faction of an abnormal appetite, and
to this end he directs all the cunning
and audacity of his nature In the
dawtime he sinks off to some retired
cave of copse of trees and sleeps, but
at night joins his neighbors in search
of food, which usually consists of live
prey or the offal of the settlements.
The remains of the hunters or camp
er'S supper are tid-bit to secure
which he has been known to follow a
party for miles. Impelled by hunger,
palatability, he will even enter tent
and make off with a shoe or a sock
or the trousers of the luckless Occu-
pant.
When coyote goes off on a forag-
ing raid by himself, and is so lucky
as to catch an unsuspecting sheep or
a calf out for a moonlight stroll, he
Wi h. oeI ,r;o
and then, dragging the carcass to a
shady and unfreQuented retreat, will
devour the choice morsels at first
Before he has finished he will gorge
many pounds of the most substantial
parts, until he resembles a sack of
coal on four spindling legs. A coyote
has been known to eat his weight in
meat in day and night. Not a
particle of the coyotes feast is ever
allowed to go to waste, for when he
is stuffed he will snatch hold of the
remnants of the carcass by his mouth,
and, throwing the flesh across his
back, will start for the family abode.
also. Hunters tell Of having found
coyotes so gorged and heavy with
food that their distended sides made
it impossible for them to enter their
burrows and holes. Jack-rabbits are
the principal food of coyotes, and
both animals are provided with mus
cles of locomotion that are marvel
Gus. There are few things in nature
as swift as a coyote following a Cali
fornia jack-rabbit across a plain. A
fleeing jack-rabbit can easily make a
mile a minute for one or two miles.
at is really too bad that people de-
nounce the coyote as a sneak because
of his hang-dog look" said Henry
Bowles, a well-known hunter "But
you must remember that nature did
not build the coyote on the plan of
fghter-as a panther, bear or wild
cat. He has no weapon of defense
but his few sharp teeth. and he is thin
and wiry. SO he has to use strategy
and craftinegs to get his living. What
most folks call sneakiness is only
slyness Or shyTess, because he is so
everlastingly prosecuted: He has
more wit than any animal in North
America except the fox, and when &C.
casion demands he will fight like
tiger for his family. knowing the
odds against him.'-H. T Griswold
in New York Evening Post.
huNtp cIrKMECC