Wolf and Coyote Trapping Part 2

In the Northern Peninsula of Michigan, wolves are very plentiful and large numbers of deer are killed during the winter months, the remains being found later by hunters, trappers, and lumbermen. The same conditions exist in Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, also in parts of Ontario, Canada. In the Rainy River District, wolves have always been abundant and much game has been killed by them. Farther east, they are just making their appearance of late years having followed the deer which are coming into the country from some other section. Farther east, in the eastern portions of New Ontario and in some parts of Quebec wolves are also numerous. One of our friends from Northern Wisconsin writes as follows:

[Ill.u.s.tration: Remains of Deer Killed by Wolves.]

"I have trapped and caught five old female wolves since I came to Iron County, Wisconsin, six years ago. Two of them I got in Michigan, Gogebic County, as I live almost on the line. There are times when you can see six or eight wolf tracks all going down the river or coming up at the same time. You can go again for a week and never see a track. I have followed them for a week, in deep snow on snow shoes, and never left their track, and in one week I set traps at 50 different deer that wolves had killed. I might have gotten a few more wolves but the fox, mink, cats, skunk, owls and "porkys" (porcupines) were bound to b.u.t.t in. At one set I got a wolf, 3 foxes, 1 skunk, 1 mink and 10 porkys till June.

Two wolves caught a buck that would weigh 150 pounds, within 10 rods of my camp one night. The next morning there was not one pound of meat left on the bones.

I had a tent and one shanty in Gogebic County last winter, and I know the wolves killed 500 deer on the snow. How many fawns and does did they kill in summer time when you cannot see their tracks? The wild cats are not so bad, a fawn, rabbit or partridge makes a meal for them."

In the far north where the barren ground caribou is the princ.i.p.al game animal, and where wolves are plentiful, there can be no doubt that they kill large numbers of those animals. Musk oxen are also killed, and farther south the moose is killed by wolves, but it is our belief that the number is comparatively small. The moose is such a large and powerful animal that even a band of half starved wolves will, as a rule, pa.s.s it by, but there can be no doubt of the fact that they do kill them on rare occasions.

The elk is a great enemy of the wolf and it appears that they are seldom molested. Beyond all doubt the deer is the princ.i.p.al prey of the timber wolf.

CHAPTER IV.

BOUNTIES.

For many years the state governments of the wolf infested country have been paying bounties on wolves and coyotes, to encourage the hunting and trapping of these animals. It is doubtful, however, whether the bounties offered are sufficient to encourage any, other than the regular trappers, to hunt wolves, and if they are, it has certainly had no definite results, for the wolves and coyotes, taken over the whole country, are practically as plentiful as ever.

Realizing that the state bounties were not a sufficient inducement to trappers, certain of the counties of those states where wolves are most abundant, offer additional bounty. This has the effect of thinning the wolves out of that county alone, but they immediately become more plentiful in the adjoining portions of the country.

In some of the Western States, the stockmen pay a bounty, in addition to that offered by the state. Some of them even offer special inducements, in addition to the bounties paid on the captured animals, and among them may be mentioned, board and lodging for the trapper, bait for the traps and the use of saddle and pack horses.

Such special offers to trappers have the effect of stimulating the hunting and trapping of noxious animals in that immediate vicinity and the result is, a thinning out of the animals for the time being.

Usually the trappers drift into those sections where the animals are most plentiful and the bounty is highest.

One of the Government bulletins has the following to say regarding the bounty question:

"Bounties, even when excessively high, have proved ineffective in keeping down the wolves, and the more intelligent ranchmen are questioning whether the bounty system pays. In the past ten years Wyoming has paid out in State bounties over $65,000 on wolves alone, and $160,156 on wolves, coyotes and mountain lions together, and to this must be added still larger sums in local and county bounties on the same animals."

"In many cases three bounties are paid on each wolf. In the upper Green River Valley the local stockmen's a.s.sociation pays a bounty of $10 on each wolf pup, $20 on each grown dog wolf, and $40 on each b.i.t.c.h with pup. Fremont County adds $3 to each of these, and the State of Wyoming $3 more. Many of the large ranchers pay a private bounty of $10 to $20 in addition to the county and state bounty. Gov.

Bryant B. Brooks, of Wyoming, paid six years ago, on his ranch in Natrona County, $10 each on 50 wolves in one year, and considered it a good investment, since it practically cleared his range of wolves for the time. It invariably happens, however, that when cleared out of one section the wolves are left undisturbed to breed in neighboring sections, and the depleted country is soon restocked."

"A floating cla.s.s of hunters and trappers receive most of the bounty money and drift to the sections where the bounty is highest. If extermination is left to these men, it will be a long process. Even some of the small ranch owners support themselves in part from the wolf harvest, and it is not uncommon to hear men boast that they know the location of dens, but are leaving the young to grow up for higher bounty. The frauds, which have frequently wasted the funds appropriated for the destruction of noxious animals almost vitiate the wolf records of some of the States: If bounties resulted in the extermination of the wolves or in an important reduction in their number, the bounty system should be encouraged, but if it merely begets fraud and yields a perpetual harvest for the support of a floating cla.s.s of citizens, other means should be adopted."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Grey Wolf, the Kind on Which Bounty is Paid.]

The failure of bounties to accomplish their proposed object was clearly shown by Dr. T. S. Palmer in 1896. Under the heading, "What have bounties accomplished," he says:

"Advocates of the bounty system seem to think that almost any species can be exterminated in a short time if the premiums are only high enough. Extermination, however, is not a question of months, but of years, and it is a mistake to suppose that it can be accomplished rapidly except under extraordinary circ.u.mstances, as in the case of the buffalo and the fur seal. Theoretically, a bounty should be high enough to insure the destruction of at least a majority of the individuals during the first season, but it has already been shown that scarcely a single State has been able to maintain a high rate for more than a few months, and it is evident that the higher the rate, the greater the danger of fraud. Although Virginia has encouraged the killing of wolves almost from the first settlement of the colony, and has sometimes paid as high as $25 apiece for their scalps, wolves were not exterminated until about the middle of this (the past) century, or until the rewards had been in force for more than two hundred years. Nor did they become extinct in England until the beginning of the sixteenth century, although efforts toward their extermination had been begun in the reign of King Edgar (959-975).

France, which has maintained bounties on these animals for more than a century, found it necessary to increase the rewards to $30 and $40 in 1882, and in twelve years expended no less than $115,000 for nearly 8,000 wolves."

"The larger animals are gradually becoming rare, particularly in the East, but it can not be said that bounties have brought about the extermination of a single species in any State."

"New Hampshire has been paying for bears about as long as Maine, but in 1894 the State treasurer called attention to the large number reported by four or five of the towns, and added that should the other 231 towns 'be equally successful in breeding wild animals for the State market, in proportion to their tax levy, it would require a State tax levy of nearly $2,000,000 to pay the bounty claims' Even New York withdrew the rewards on bears in 1895, not because they had become unnecessary, but because the number of animals killed increased steadily each year."

"Wolf skins are often ruined by the requirements of bounty laws, especially when the head, feet, or ears are cut off. The importance of preserving the skins in condition to bring the highest market price is as great as that of making it impossible to collect bounties twice. A slit in the skin can be sewed up so that it will never show on the fur side, but can not be concealed on the inside. A single longitudinal or vertical slit, or double or cross slits 4 inches long, in the center where the fur is longest, would serve every purpose of the law without seriously impairing the market value of the skin."

One thing that is detrimental to the success of the bounty system, is the invariable "red tape" connected with such laws. In some states the bounty regulations are so complicated and so exacting, that trappers do not care to follow "wolfing" because of the trouble in securing the bounty money.

It would be impossible, in a work of this kind, to give the bounty laws of the different states, also as they are repealed so frequently, detailed information on that subject would be of little value to the prospective hunter or trapper. We give, however, an outline of the regulations in some of the princ.i.p.al wolf states.

The State of Wyoming pays a bounty of five dollars each on timber wolves and mountain lions, and one dollar and twenty-five cents for each coyote. In addition to this, there are both county and stockmen's bounties in certain parts of the state. Some ranchmen offer as much as forty-five dollars each, for grey wolves caught on their ranches.

In order to secure the state bounty, one must present the entire skin to the County Clerk, or Notary Public, of the county in which the animal was killed, and accompanied by affidavit to the effect that the animal was killed in that county, by the person presenting the skin, on or after March 1st, 1909. The skin must have the feet and upper jaw or head, with both upper and lower lips attached. The head will then be cut off and destroyed by the county official. Applicants for bounty must be identified.

With regard to private bounties, one should consult the county officials, but these, and in that case, the state bounty also, are as a rule, paid by the treasurer of the a.s.sociation offering the bounty.

Wisconsin pays twenty dollars on old wolves and eight dollars each on pups. Half of this bounty money is paid by the state and the other half by the county. In order to secure it, the trapper must take the carca.s.s of the animal to the Town Chairman and remove the scalp in his presence. He gives a certificate to that effect and the bounty claimant presents the scalp and certificate to the County Clerk, who destroys the scalp and gives an order to the County Treasurer for one-half of the bounty. The County Clerk also sends an affidavit to the State Treasurer, stating that you have presented the scalp and it has been destroyed and the claimant then receives the balance of the bounty money from the state.

In the State of Washington the bounty is fifteen dollars on timber wolves and one dollar on coyotes. The method of procuring the bounty as given here is copied direct from the game law pamphlet:

"Upon the production to the county auditor of any county of the entire hide or pelt and right fore leg to the knee joint intact of any cougar, lynx, wild cat, coyote or timber wolf, killed in such county, each of which hides or pelts shall show two ears, eye holes, skin to tip of nose, and right fore leg to the knee join intact, the county auditor shall require satisfactory proof that such animal was killed in such county. When the county auditor is satisfied that such animal was killed in his county, he shall cut from such hide or pelt the bone of the right fore leg to the knee as aforesaid which shall be burned in the presence of such auditor and one other county official, who shall certify to the date and place of such burning."

Utah pays a bounty of ten dollars on grey wolves and two dollars and fifty cents on coyotes. The entire skin, with tail, feet and the bones of the leg, to the knee, must be presented to the County Clerk within sixty days of the date on which said animal was killed. The County Clerk must then remove and destroy the bones of the legs and the applicant will sign an affidavit stating that the animal was killed by himself, in that county and within sixty days prior to that date.

The county official will then send a certified statement to the State Auditor, along with the other papers, who, after same have been examined, will transmit the bounty money to the claimant.

No bounty will be paid on the skin of a grey wolf until it has been seen and pa.s.sed upon by the board of county commissioners at their first regular meeting. Bounty claimants must be identified by a reputable citizen and tax payer of the county.

In Minnesota the bounty on grown wolves is seven dollars and fifty cents and one dollar for wolf pups. The bounty regulations are practically the same as in the other states; the entire skin with head and ears intact must be presented to the Town Clerk within thirty days and the applicant must take affidavit as to the date and place of the killing.

In other states, if our information is correct, the bounties at present (1909) are as follows:

ADULT WOLVES. YOUNG WOLVES. COYOTES.

Arizona $10 00 $2 00 Arkansas 5 00 Colorado 5 00 1 00 Idaho 10 00? 1 00?

Kansas 5 00 1 00 Michigan 25 00 $10 00 Montana 10 00 3 00 Nebraska 4 00 1 25 New Mexico 20 00 2 00 North Dakota 4 50 2 50 Oregon 10 00 7 00 South Dakota 5 00 1 50

THE CANADIAN PROVINCES.

Alberta 10 00 1 00 1 00 British Columbia 15 00 2.00 Ontario 15 00 Quebec 15 00 Saskatchewan 3 00 1 00

The fraud so often practiced by unscrupulous parties has always been detrimental to the efficacy of the bounty system. The Bureau of Biological Survey, have issued a special circular on this subject and being of general interest, it is reprinted here.

WASTE IN BOUNTY PAYMENTS.

"The bounty system has everywhere proved an incentive to fraud, and thousands of dollars are wasted annually in paying bounties on coyote scalps offered in place of wolves, and on the scalps of dogs, foxes, c.o.o.ns, badgers, and even cats, which are palmed off for wolves and coyotes. If in all states having the bounty system whole skins, including nose, ears, feet, and tail of both adult and young animals, were required as valid evidence for bounty payments, the possibility of deception would be reduced to a minimum. The common practice of paying bounty on scalps alone, or in some cases merely the ears, is dangerous, as even an expert can not always positively identify such fragments. A satisfactory way of marking skins on which the bounty has been paid is by a slit 4 to 6 inches long between the ears. This does not injure the skins for subsequent use. If all bounty-paying states would adopt such a system, the possibility of collecting more than one bounty on the same skin in different states would be avoided."

"The following directions have been prepared as an aid to county and state officers in identifying scalps, skins, and skulls of wolves and coyotes, the pups of wolves, coyotes, red, grey, and kit foxes, and young bob-cats, c.o.o.ns and badgers."

"The variation in dogs is so great that no one set of characters will always distinguish them from wolves or coyotes, but when there is reason to suspect that dogs are being presented for bounties, their skins and skulls should be sent to the Biological Survey for positive identification. It goes without saying that anyone detected in such fraud should be prosecuted with a view to the suppression of these dishonest practices."

KEY TO ADULT WOLVES AND COYOTES.

Width of nose pad WOLF. 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches COYOTE. 3/4 to 1 inch