class="pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">Method of Attaching an Oblong Stone
Method of Attaching a Triangular Stone
Iron Stakes for Traps
Trap Set and Ready for Covering
Wyoming Wolf Trapper
Caught in a Scent Set
Trail Bait Set
The Square Setting
Coyote Caught at a Bank Set
Wolf Water Set
A Trapped Wolf
A Trapped Texas Coyote
A Northern Coyote
An Idaho Coyote
A Trail Set
Traps Set at Badger Den
A Good Catch
A Snow Set
A Large Wisconsin Wolf
Mr. Davis with the Big Wolf Skins
A Texas Specimen
Caught at Last
A Northern Wolf

INTRODUCTION.

There are certain wild animals which when hard pressed by severe cold and hunger, will raid the farmers and ranchmen's yards, killing fowls and stock. There however, are no animals that destroy so much stock as wolves and coyotes as they largely live upon the property of farmers, settlers and ranchmen to which they add game as they can get it.

While these animals are trapped, shot, poisoned, hunted with dogs, etc., their numbers, in some states, seem to be on the increase rather than the decrease in face of the fact that heavy bounties are offered.

The fact that wolf and coyote scalps command a bounty, in many states, and in addition their pelts are valuable, makes the hunting and trapping of these animals of no little importance.

One thing that has helped to keep the members of these "howlers" so numerous is the fact that they are among the shrewdest animal in America. The day of their extermination is, no doubt, far in the distance.

This book contains much of value to those who expect to follow the business of catching wolves and coyotes. A great deal of the habits and many of the methods were written by Mr. E. Kreps, who has had experience with these animals upon the Western Plains, in Canada, and the South. Additional information has been secured from Government Bulletins and experienced "wolfers" from various parts of America.

A. R. Harding.

WOLF AND COYOTE TRAPPING

CHAPTER I.
THE TIMBER WOLF.

Wolves of all species belong to that class of animals known as the dog family, the members of which are considered to be the most intelligent of brute animals. They are found, in one species or another, in almost every part of the world. They are strictly carnivorous and are beyond all doubt the most destructive of all wild animals.

In general appearance the wolf resembles a large dog having erect ears, elongated muzzle, long heavy fur and bushy tail. The size and color varies considerably as there are many varieties.

The wolves of North America may be divided into two distinct groups, namely, the large timber wolves, and the prairie wolves or coyotes (ki'-yote). Of the timber wolves there are a number of varieties, perhaps species, for there is considerable difference in size and color. For instance there is the small black wolf which is still found in Florida, and the large Arctic wolf which is found in far Northern Canada and Alaska, the color of which is a pure white with a black tip to the tail. Then there is that intermediate variety known as the Grey Wolf, also called "Timber Wolf," "Lobo" and "Wolf," the latter indefinite name being used throughout the West to distinguish the animal from the prairie species. It is the most common of the American wolves, the numbers of this variety being in excess of all of the others combined. In addition to those mentioned, there are others such as the Red Wolf of Texas and the Brindled Wolf of Mexico. All of these, however, belong to the group known to naturalists as the Timber Wolves. Just how many species and how many distinct varieties there are is not known.

As a rule, the largest wolves are found in the North; the Gray Wolves of the western plains being slightly smaller than the white and Dusky Wolves of Northern Canada and Alaska, specimens of which, it is said, sometimes weigh as much as one hundred and fifty pounds. Again the wolves of the southern part of the United States and of Mexico are smaller than the gray variety.

The Range of the Timber Wolf.

The average full grown wolf will measure about five feet in length, from the end of the nose to the tip of the tail, and will weigh from eighty to one hundred pounds, but specimens have been killed which