The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1917-02-20
WOLF IS CONSTANT
SOURCE OF MENACE
TO STOCK RAISING
Naturalist Of Wide Reputation
Says Wolf Has cunningness to
Offset Traps Laid by Man Dam.
age Reaches Millions.


That the wolf has kept one lap
ahead Of man. his pursuer and de-
|voioped a systematic cunning TO meet
each new contraptlon OF gun. poison
or trap. Is well set forth In article.
"Ontwittlng the Wolf" by Enos A..
Mills naturalist OF national reputa-
ton in The saturday Evening Post Of
February II.
lie points out tina whore In the
early eighties the sight Of a wolf or a
pack was a common sight In the vest
ern cattle country, now wolves are
rarely seen. though his destructive app
petite has increased. Formerly wolves
followed the buffalo herds up n
down the plains. They now follow cat
tie herds-winter with cattle In the
~lowiands. and in the hummer accom-
pany the beef on hoof up Into the
higher ranges They appear 20 be
equally at home In the mountains.
In the forests, In the thickets or on the
prairie. They probably live from
eight To- fifteen ycarsfl 4 single wo'f
has been charged with killirs eighty
head Of cattle a year
And while the wolf popuiytion nay
not be so numerous as u vEts once,
the present day maraudeT IA more ac-
tive and aggressive. speaking OF his
working district. Mr.. Mills says, They
spend their life IN one locality. This
has a diameter OF fifteen or twenty
miles" dependent 20 a certain extent
upon food ana topography They are
lever adapting thcmseNes to changing
environment When the wolf began o.
be a serious menace 10 the live stock
Industries heavy boupties were offered
to make his capture worth while DE
spite this theavy bounty for nfteer
years the wolves actually multiplied.
And the writer supports this state
iment with his experience over the en-
tire western part Of the continent, ana
gives as the safety first slogan tina
every wolf parent must teach th'
lyoung: avoid being seen by man, nne
never. never touch anything that car
rios the scent Of man or Of iron oi
steel"
In speaking OF the development a
the VOLTS ~sagacity the author point
out hat the catching OF them be
lcomes Increasingly difficult. The ma
liority OF the wolves now trapped ar
! THE young or the stupid ones. Force'
by poison and traps TO avoid dea'
stuff that man has touched the wol
il compelled 20 do more killing. Thei
too. his special development n In
lcreased experience-affords him a III
ing and leaves him spare energy an
time. so for the fun OF 1t he Kills an
/, kills.
'"rherc has been a lack OF oonse-Na
tism In many campaigns again
wolves. Organized hunts. the emplo,
ment Of unskiiled VOTERS and u
payment of heavy bounties. have ger
l~erally been poor investments and the
have not exterminated the wolves. u
in these times OF high bountles wol'.
ACTUALLY multiplied. Even the mo
conservative figures of the total annui
wolf damage TO stock and ranch u
l~terests In the west go up into mill'oi
OF dollars. The amount annually -
and the money spent IN trying to d.
stroy wolves. together with the ~
paym. Is In bounties, aggregate
lenorA sus sum
In suggesting adequate measures
bring about their eradication NJ
Mills shows that, ito eradicate wolve
then. IL appears necessary To uude
stand their life habits , "a To q
vigilance in discovering wolf dens
lAnd as "a solution To h Wolf mem
he quotes "a prominent stockmI.
"From now on there viii be intensi'
cattle raising. This includes intcnji
wolfng-that Is. W. shall fight wolN
Twin brains"