The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-05-21
YOUNG COYOTES.

of the ground. It was a long, narrow head, not unlike that of a fox, except that it was much larger, and that the ears and eyes were smaller in propor- tion. The face was full of cunning, but that cunning would avail no more, for at this very instant there was a spurt of fire and the sharp crack of rifle
 from a nearby clump of grass, and the coyote was kicking and gasping on the very threshold of it's some. Behind the puff of smoke, man jumped to his
 feet, and, with cry of I've got yer
 this time, yer theft, ran forward and
 dragged the dying creature out upon
 the plain. Even in the dina light, it was evident that this was a much smaller and far less formidable animal than the great gray timber wolf, but the man Iwho was lifting it's limp, yellowish-
 gray body had found by long experience
 that not even the timber wolf nor the red fox himself had more cunning than "a coyote. And something else the man
 knew, and this was that the wolf he had killed was the mother of number of cubs which must even now be in the
 burrow below him. So with the butt of of his gun he broke in the earth about the mouth of the tunnel, packed it un- til it was almost as solid as brick, and then, picking up the body of his old enemy, strode toward his camp.
 In the morning he returned to the den with two companions, armed with picks and spades. and before long they reached the end of the burrow, where a
 bunch of soft brown fur marked the position of six shivering hungry little coyotes, each doing his best to get just la little farther away. One of the men
 put out his hand towards the cubs. but the ones on top of the bunch eurled their lips, opened their mouths, and showed such an array of teeth, as sharp as needles, that for moment he hesitated. Then, realizing that they were but babies, he seized them one by
 one and drew them out snarling and Struggling.
 The men had no intention of killing the little captives. They had received lorders to get just litter for zoolo- gical park in the East, and as soon as the infants showed that they knew enough to eat small pieces of raw meat, off they were shipped.
 They grew rapidly in captivity, and in the fall they were put into a large cage with a number of other coyotes, and
 there may be seen to-day But one of
 them, on the 18th of last April, had six
 babies of her own, and soon made ar arrangements to buy them. Unfortunate ly, three of them died within few days, but the other three lived, and when they were three weeks old called for them and carried them off. I had a long railroad journey before me. and
 that my charges might not suffer from hunger bought a pint of milk to give ! them on the train. I bought q habys nursing bottle to feed them with, and, for fear they might not grasp themean- ling of this at once, I took also a medi- Icine-dropper. When I opened the box, thought I had never seen such stolid young creatures. They lay perfectly still and looked at me without the least expression in their faces, and when I picked one up he held his body perfectly rigid, with his fore legs straight out in front, as stiff as ramrods. A young fox lof the same age. and under the same conditions, would relax it's muscles and hang perfectly limp. When I was sure they were hungry, I offered them the bottle, but as I had half expected from their appearance, they could not dis cover it's use. Instead of sucking it Vigorously principles, they allowed the nipple to rest quietly in their mouths l while they gazed rather stupidly about them. But they could not go hungry,
 so with the dropper I gave them what l they would not take for themselves, | much to the disgust of well-meaning lady passenger, who persisted in giving lme useless advice. on the strength of having reared seven children herself. II She was quite sure that I would choke | them to death, but as they are still very much alive, she has lost her point.
 When I got them home they proved
 to be just about the same size as my Iyoung foxes, though little more than
 half the age of those ubiquitous rascals. 1 To the casual observer, the young
 wolves and the young foxes looked very much alike, but to the critical eye they lhad but little in common except their
 size. The young wolves were creatures
 of coarser clay, with heavier bodies,
 but smaller feet, shorter ears and tails.
 Their muzzles were heavier, and the Ifaces more brutal, largely fancy, be-
 cause they lacked that charming, good
 natured, almost human smiles which so
 often lights up the countenance of that
 bright little being which men call fox.
 Moreover, the fur of the wolves was llonger, coarses and browner, and had lnone of the black markings which add
 so much to the appearance of Reynard.
 And when they rose to their feet, as
 they did occasionally, they stood high
 at the shoulders, and the attitude they
 assumed was the attitude of a wolf 1.-Two days after, I came upon them
 suddenly, and they greeted me with
 open mouths and curled lips, promise ! of the fun I may expect to have with
 them when they are few months old-
 CT. The little foxes thought they were very good fun at first, and chased them
 about, playfully chewing their ears.
 But yesterday I heard battle in pro-
 gress, and, going to investigate I found one of the wolves, which in one week have quite outgrown their play
 mates, calmly strangling one of the fox les, which he held on the ground be- meath him. I was obliged to violate the laws of neutrality. The coyotes did not | take kindly to milk, but ate meat as | soon as it was offered to them. and. l though they do Ian littlp milk now