Mexico weekly ledger., 1902-01-16
AREBREEDINC WOLVES
1T PAYS BETTER THAN HOGS;
AT LEAST NEBRASKA FARM.
ERs HAVE FOUND ITsO.
EXPLANATION OF RUSH OF CLAIMS.
The State Pays 81 Bounty and the
County So on vss-$l5O,-
600 Expended by the
State in This Way
in Ten Years.

LINCOLN, NEB., Jan. 9.-The large
number Of claims come into the State
Auditors Office for bounties on wolves
and coyotes has led to the discovery
that some farmers and ranchmen In
the western part Of the state have
gone into the business of breeding
those animals for the bounty markets.
In one instance man was found to
have raised more than one hundred
wolves last summer from several ami
mails he bad trapped and penned up
for that purpose. Other cases were
unearthed where from fifteen to sixty
OF these animals had been reared. In
October and November they were
killed and their scalps presented for
redemption at the Office of the county
clerk Of each county.
The state law authorizes the county
clerk TO pay SO from the county fund
for each coyote or wolf scalp present.
ed, and he certifles the fact to the
Auditor, who pays 81 additional. -Four
dollars for each wolf or coyote pays
better than hog raising, and naturally
the farmers have turned their atten-
tion to this industry.
The law was passed years ago when
the wolf and coyote were the great
foes OF the cattle and sheep men. In
the last ten years slsO,OOO has been
paid by the state alone as bounty.
The Legislature Of ls9eapproprlated
100000 for the purpose. OF thisamuunt
700 was immediately demanded by
holders OF old claims The remaining
$4,000 was gone within six months,
and when the last Legislature appro-
priated $4,000, 1t was at once swal-
lowed up by holders of old claims
There are now on file with the auditor
claims aggregating $4,000, and by the
end OF next year this figure will be
doubled.
These figures indicate that instead
OF being killed OF the wolves are in
creasing. The explanation is now
simple.
What makes the state authorities
the angrler is that there is nothing to
prevent a man from running wolf |
ranch II he desires TO, and with the
market unlimited and the price fixed
at a very remunerative figure, the
business presents opportunities that
attract capital. The only drawback is
that man must walt for his money.
The law says that the state shall pay
81 and the county 50 for every scalp
with the two ears and the face down
30 the nose, and makes the county
,lerk the man who, when proof is pre-
sented that the wolves were killed
within the state, certifies to the num-
Der. In the less densely populated
parts of the state, where the wolf and
the coyote find their habitation, the
Dfiice Of county clerk is not so remun-
eratiye that the occupant may not be
to assist in the enterprise In
The matter of certitication or II he has
any qualms about his oath, he may be
careless as TO how the scalps are dis
posed OF after he has passed them.
Auditor Weston says that in one
,ase TO which bis attention has been
called the county clerk threw the
;calps out OF his window after he had
received them, and they were again
picked up and presented to him. This
could be continued until physical ex-
haustion set in If thought wise.
The certificates on file in the audi
tors Office show claims ranging from /
20 1903 wolves with many men down
'or sixty in a bunch. The result will
probably be . recommendation from
he auditor that the state pay all the
pending claims and repeal the law.