Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1906-04-29
BEASTS OF PREY ON RESERVE
 RANGES.
Experts Devising Means to Protect Cattle and Sheep from Attacks of
 Wolves and Lions

Wolves and mountain lions are gfy. ing the stockmeu a sool deal of frou- hle on the ranges in several of the National forest reserves. Vigorous complaints have been made 10 the for est service of the loss Of cattle and sheep. particularly cattle, from this cause. Protection is sought by the stcckmen. and the forest service which collects fee for the grazing permits, has promptly assumed the task of finding and putting into ef- feet practical measures to aid the cat tie owners in exterminating the de- stnuctive animals.
 The chief difficulty has been on the Wind river division Of the Yellow stone reserve, ill Wyoming. Some of the lives. ocE companies in the region assert that the wolves are increasing so rapidly that the future welfare of the cattle industry is in serious dang. CT Among the proposals which these conditions have called forth are that bounty be offered for the animals destruction. The stoc!lmen along the northern boundry of the Gila reserve, IT. New Mexico, and in the Wichita, in Oklahoma, have suffered almost as severely. T
 Last spring the government anpoint eG John Golf, the skillful hunter who acted as guide 10 the president during his hu4fing trip a year ago, as Forest RanGst. and set him to hunting lions m the Shoshone division of the Yel- lowstone reserve, in Montana. Now that the. appeal from the stockmen on other reserves is so vigorous, especial ly for the extermination of the wolves. the service has just sent an expert into the field to study the wolf prob lcm The man selected for tlis work is q recognized authority on the game 2nd other wild animals of the country. MT Vernon Bailey chief field natural ist of the Biological survey, from chich he has been temporarily trans ferred in order to secure his services for this important project.
 The animals which are causing SC much trouble to stockmen are com. mon in their native habitat, but are little known to customers who have rot have hunted them. The wolf is known in the west as the timber wolf. Though not large, it is power flll and quick Not only does t kill calves and yeariings with ease but it attacks and overcomes full grown eat tie. When after this large prey it does not go for the throat, as so na0.' beasts do. but fastens it's teeth in the muscles of the leg. hamstringins it's victim, which falls defenseiess. Bet little of the carcass is usually de. Toured by he wolves. The .lion' is, of course, the cougar. and no true lion at all. Nevertheless. it is large and powerful beast capable of playing havoc among the cattle
 The wolves and lions are not class i ed in the west as game animals but are regarded as pests and are com. monly termed "varmints." Wherever they are plentiful a bounty is offered to encourage their extermination. De ! spite this. they are still sufficiently na- merous to work much harm, and it is said that in some localities they are on the increase.
 IL is particularly noticeable that there has been so much complaint from the Wichita reserve. which the president has set aside as a game re. fuge. The wolves and cougars are the enemies Of other wild animals, and the sportsman, who desires to encourage American sport and to preserve Amer lear game, can be counted on to aid iu the work Of hunting them down
 h any case, however, the lion and the wolf must be driven from the ranges. Interests larger and more sabstantiat than those of the hunts. man and trapper demand it. The great livestock industry, which the forest service has pledged itself to encourage