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TRAPPING THE TIMBER WOLF Cunning and Carnivorous Pirate of the Woods Is Outguessed hy Man The range of the gray wolf extends from Nova Scotia to the Rocky Mountains where as in the country to the vest it is supplanted by the brown wolf In the south it gives way to the black in the far north to the white and on the prairies to the red wolf The habits of the first four are identical in every respect Except for color there is no distinct line of demarcation the trappers and Indians regard them as geographical variations of one species and group them all under the one name of timber wolf The red wolf more commonly known as the prairie wolf or coyote is entirely distinct and bears more resemblance to a fox than a typical wolf wolfThe The skin of the wolf is at its best in January and February and that of the white wolf is by far the most valuable often bringing thirty dollars or more while that of the others rarely sells for ten and usually for not more than five or six dollars and that of the coyote is worth even less But in most states sufficient bounties are offered for the scalps to make successful wolf trapping highly profitable independent of the value of the skins skinsAVolves AVolves were formerly so numerous in many parts of the country as to be a source of danger to the early settlers But they have been driven back by civilization until they are now seldom found except in the dense forests and the sparsely settled districts near them themThe The wolf is extremely swift of foot Its organs of sight scent and hearing are wonderfully de ¬ veloped It is observant has a good memory and an intelligence that amounts almost to reason and is the most cautious and cunning of animals For these reasons it is1 the most difficult of all animals to capture either by shooting or trapping and the weapon that has been most coinindhly employed against it is poison However as soon as the poison begins to take effect a wolf will imme ¬ diately seek a secure hiding place and because of its swiftness and vitality will often cover several miles before it finally succumbs Therefore al ¬ though poison is most effective in exterminating the animals thousands of skins and bounties are lost by its use useThe The wolf is exclusively carnivorous Its favor ¬ ite food is mutton or venison or a young calf but it will eat meat of any kind A greater part of the socalled popular information regarding its habits is misleading if not erroneous It is not cowardly it does not hunt in organized packs it is not cannibalistic it is not gregarious it has no fixed den or other habitation and it is fond of and even affectionate toward its mate and off ¬ spring Opinions to the contrary are based upon isolated instances and not upon an intimate ac ¬ quaintance with the animal animalCAMOUFLAGED CAMOUFLAGED STEEL TRAPS USED USEDIt It is trapped with steel traps exclusively and never with deadfalls spring poles or snares It is en ¬ tirely too shrewd for these It is often advised that traps be set in water to insure success As a matter of fact a wolf never steps into water if it can possibly avoid doing so and a trap set in open water will always fail However if one can be set in a shallow stream and so skillfully camou ¬ flaged as to present the appearance of a small natural island offering a dry footing for crossing the stream it will usually be successful provided the wolf is a stranger to the locality and sees fit to cross at that point If however it has been in the habit of crossing the stream near that place and the island suddenly appears the wolf will seek another crossing place it is often recommended that a calf or a sheep be inclosed in a crate or tethered by a rope and left in the woods as a bait with traps set round it This method is often successful when trapping the prairie wolf but never so when dealing with the timber wolf The latter will suspect a trap or a decoy and will in ¬ variably avoid it Great stress is also laid upon the necessity of destroying or overpowering the manscent As a matter of fact the man scent so alarming to most of the smaller animals is attractive to timber wolves and they will follow the track fur miles I know this to be a fact for I liave had them fol ¬ low in my tracks come closer to me than I cared to have them and even continue to follow me after I had crossed the tracks of botli a rabbit and a deer deerA A wolf cannot be decoyed into approaching an inhabited dwelling or a camp or other place where it may have reason to suspect an ambush but it will unhesitatingly enter the space upon which a party of hunters or lumbermen have built a fire and eaten their noonday meal It fears a fire above most other things but if the fire has burned itself completely out so that no sparks remain a wolf will lie down in the ashes and sleep till morning provided there is nothing of a suspicious nature in the surroundings It will devour eery bone and scrap of meat left from the lumbermans dinner It will eat the rawhide strings with which lie fastens his wedges together It will gnaw thp handle of his ax presumably for the taste of the fat im ¬ parted by the perspiration of the choppers hand and I have known it to eat a pair of leather mit ¬ tens inadvertently left on a log So much for the man scent fallacy fallacyThe The one thing it does fear even more than it fears a spark of fire among the ashes is a steel trap buried in the ground It is able to detect a trap by the scent and it is this scent that must be overcome or disguised This can easily be done by using an old rusty trap and covering it with a coating Of beeswax The wolf is readily attracted by scents of various kinds and many are employed Some are valuable under certain conditions but any scent although it may attract a wolf from a long distance becomes repellent if it suggests conditions different from those existing Thus the odor aris ¬ ing from decaying meat is one of the best scents and a piece of fresh bloody meat is one of the best baits yet if combined they will only serve to make a wolf more cautious and will rarely be successful However the most attractive scent is the odor arising from roasting meat and the most attractive bait is the roasted meat itself itselfBUHNED BUHNED MEAT EFFECTIVE BAIT BAITThe The most successful method of trapping a wolf is for the trapper to place a goodsize piece of meat on the ground the carcass of a rabbit is excellent for the purpose Then set plenty of traps in a double circle around it cover well with wet leaves or bury in the snow if in winter Ple brush and wood the more the better over both meat and traps and burn it Then sit down in a natural manner and eat lunch throwing bones and bits of meat here and there round the fire Wait until the fire has completely burned out before going condition Do the same the following day Within a week from the time that a wolf first scents the burning meat it is almost certain to be in one of the traps trapsIn In trapping wolves traps having a spread oi jaw of fully nine inches should be used the spring should be exceedingly stiff and the pan so adjusted that considerable weight will be required to spring it The reason for this is that in approaching1 the bait a wolf will use such extreme caution that it will often step so carefully on a trap as to spring it and be able to withdraw its foot before the jaws can close A full grown wolf will weigh about one hundred pounds and the pan of the trap should be so adjusted that it will sustain a weight of fully ten pounds Tiie traps should be set in a double circle not only to preclude the possibility of a wolfs reaching the bait without stepping in a trap but because the wolf mates early in winter and from that time until the middle of summer usually hunts in pairs so that there is a strong likelihood of capturing both animals if a sufficient number of traps is set The young are brought forth late in spring and until along toward the close of summer the entire family often travels together As fall approaciies however family ties are severed and all the mem ¬ bers become solitary Naturalists tell us that the number of young in a litter ranges from seven to ten Indians tell us that the number is rarely above four Country Gentleman
