Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1906-03-02
A SUCCESSFUL METHOD
OF KILLING COYOTES
Applesate. Farmer Gets Four of
These Marauders in One
Nisht-ls Sure Dea tn.

R. M. Robinson. who has a fine
farm on Applegate two miles above
Wilderville. was in Grants Pass Mon
day. He was much disappointed that
he was unable to attend the recent far-
mers institute at Wilderville. Know.
ing that the storm then on had rem.
dered Slate creek unfordable he and
five Of his neiehbors started to walk
to Wilderville but were unable to reach
the foot bridge across the creek as the
water was over the bottom.
Mr.. Robinson, as has every other
farmer in Josephine county. has
suffered from the depredations Of coy.
otes and ha has inauRurated a cam
paiRn of determination of these willy
pests and the success Of his first effort
makes it certain that coyotes will soon
be scarce In his section. 1t il we'll
known that coyotes are too shrewd to
be trapped and it is seldom that they
can be poisoned by ordinary methods.
Mr.. Robinson had butchered some
hogs and he took the entrsils and tried
a rope to them and then gong afoot
he dragged them through his fields
and pasture. Every few rods he would
drop small bit of liver or fat which
had been poisoned with strychnine.
The second day after he found three
dead wolves along the trail and the
mountains in another place indicated
where the fourth coyote had got his
finish ard crawled into the brush 10
die. Mr.. Robinson now that he has
found a way to get the coyotes to eat
poison will continue his warfare
until he has them all killed in his
neighborhood.
William Schulmerich, one Of the in
stitute speakers, stated that his ex-
perience was that coyotes would sell
dom eat poisoned meat or carcass
that had been touched by human
being, nor go near where a person
had walked. The plan he had had
the most success with was to tie a
rope to fresh sheep skin aud then to
ride horseback over land where the
coyotes are liable to run and drag the
skin flesh side down on the ground.
Have small basket of bits of poison
deliver or fat and use a sharp stick to
toss them a'ong the trail Of the sheep
skin. The coyotes will thus get no
scent of man and would follow the
trail aud by the time one picked up
the second bit of poisoned meat it
would turn up its toes and its career
would be at an end for killing poultry
pigs, sheep and goats Mr.. Schmule-
rich was of the opinion that If the
farmers would all undertake a cam
paign of poison against the coyotes
that within six months this most ex-
pensive of all pests in Rogue River
Valley would be exterminated. and
that then goat and sheep raising would
be among the most profitable indus
tries in this valley.
Mr. Robinson is undertaking iriig'-
tion on his farm on the most approved
methods and he is grading his land so
as to get the best results aud not as so
many farmers do drown the crops
on the low sections while the high
places suffer for moisture. He ordered
from California scraper known as
the Fresno scraper and took it out
with him Monday This grader is
similar to an ordinary slip scraper but
it is fitted with runners and has lock
so that it can be set at any angle both
for filling and dumping. With this
scraper land that is uneven from
knolls and low places can be brought
to an even grade with no great effort
on the part of the driver. Mr.. Robin
son irrigates his land by the plat sys-
tenn and in grading he puts it in from
one to five acre tracts as the topography
will permit. By this method he is
able to utilize his water supply to the
greatest advantage.