Wolf and Coyote Trapping: An Up-to-Date Wolf Hunter's Guide. A. R. Harding

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ 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.

       Table of Contents

      "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.

Difference in Sizes of Noes, Heel Pads and Canine Teeth of Wolves and Coyotes.

      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.

СКАЧАТЬ