Wolf and Coyote Trapping: An Up-to-Date Wolf Hunter's Guide. A. R. Harding
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, coons, 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, coons 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.
| WOLF | COYOTE | |
|---|---|---|
| Width of nose pad | 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches | 3/4 to 1 inch |
| Width of heel pad of front foot | 1 1/2 to 2 inches | 1 inch |
| Upper canine tooth — greatest diameter at base | 5/10 to 6/10 inch | 3/10 to 4/10 inch |
These characters will not always hold in Oklahoma and Texas east and south of the Staked Plains, where there is a small wolf in size between the Coyote and Lobo or Plains wolf.
KEY TO WOLF, COYOTE AND FOX PUPS.
Wolf Pups.
Muzzle blackish at birth, fading in a month or 6 weeks to greyish.
Head greyish in decided contrast to black of back, nose and ears.
Ears black at tips, fading to greyish in a month or 6 weeks.
Tail black, fading to grey with black tip.
Coyote Pups.
Muzzle tawny, or yellowish brown, becoming more yellowish with age.
Head yellowish grey, not strongly contrasted with rest of body.
Ears dark brown at tips and back, soon fading to yellowish brown.
Tail black, fading to grey with black tip.
Red Fox Pups.
Muzzle blackish.
Head dusky with side of face light yellowish.
Ears large, nearly the whole back of ears bright black at all ages.
Eyes and ears relatively larger and nose pad smaller than in coyote or wolf.
Tail dusky, tip white at all ages.
Grey Fox Pups.
Muzzle blackish.
Head greyish, face back or eyes sharply pepper and salt grey.
Ears large, back of ears dusky at tip, fulvous at base.
Eyes and nose pad small.
Tail with tip black at all ages.
Kit Fox Pups.
Muzzle with blackish patch on each side.
Head and face tawny or yellowish brown.
Ears tawny without black backs or tips.
Eyes larger and nose pad smaller than in young coyote.
Tail with tip black at all ages.
KEY TO YOUNG CATS, COONS AND BADGERS.
Young bobcats are much striped and spotted. Young cats of any kind can be distinguished by the short nose and round head.
Young coons have a broad black band across the face and eyes bordered above by a light band.
Young badgers have a white stripe between the eyes.
The bounty laws have always been a good thing for the trapper as they have helped much towards making his occupation a lucrative one, but, as before explained, it is doubtful if it has ever, in any marked degree, tended to decrease the numbers of predatory animals.
It is true that continued trapping will cause the numbers of wolves and coyotes to diminish, but would not the trapping be prosecuted practically the same, even if there were no bounties? We believe that it would, for if the bounty offered were any great incentive, there would be more trapping done during the summer when the furs were of no account.
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