CHAPTER VIII.

POISONING WOLVES.

Poisoning noxious animals is a common practice and is much used where the only object is to destroy the animals, and the finding of the carcass is of little moment, but the real hunters and trappers seldom resort to this method because of the large numbers of animals that are killed and lost. It is, indeed, a wasteful method of hunting as in all probability, three-fourths of the animals killed by the poisoned baits are not found until they have lain so long that they have become tainted, or ruined by mice and birds, so that both the bounty and the fur are lost. Anyway that is the conclusion of many of those who have practiced poisoning.

In many places where wolves and coyotes could be poisoned readily in early days the method is not a success at present as the animals have learned by experience to avoid the poisoned food. Strychnine is usually employed and this very bitter drug has a way of spreading through the bait, so that the wolf can sometimes detect it as soon as the bait touches the tongue. In such cases, the drug is never swallowed, but may be dropped on the spot or as is more often the case, it may be carried a considerable distance away before it is dropped. Again if the animal swallows the poisoned bait, it may be some time before it dissolves in the wolfs stomach and the poison begins to act, and if the wolf begins to feel the effects of the drug, it may start off on a run. In either case it is not likely to be found even if there is snow on the ground as the wind will soon obliterate the tracks.

In the government pamphlet before mentioned, Mr. Bailey has the following to say about poisoning:

"Many wolves are killed by poisoning, and more would be so killed if the methods followed were less crude. Strychnine is generally used with nothing to disguise its intense bitterness, the powder being either inserted in bits of meat or fat or merely spread on a fresh carcass. In most cases the wolf gets a taste of the bitter drug and rejects it, and if the dose is swallowed it may be too small to be fatal or so large as to act as an emetic. An old and experienced wolf will rarely touch bait poisoned in the ordinary way, but sometimes a whole family of young may be killed at a carcass. Usually when wolves are poisoned, they go so far before they die that if found at all it is not until their skins are spoiled. To encourage poisoning, it must be possible to secure the skins in good condition, or at least, to find the animals after they are killed, so that the ranchman may have the satisfaction of knowing that he has accomplished something toward the protection of his stock."

"In the use of poison it is of first importance to determine the amount that will kill with certainty in the shortest possible time. According to German and French authorities on toxicology, the smallest dose of strychnine that will kill a 25 pound dog is approximately one-fourth of a grain. Quadruple this for a 100 pound wolf and we have 2 grains. Mr. B. R. Ross, of the Hudson's Bay Company, found that this quantity would kill a wolf quickly. Experiments by Prof. David E. Lantz, of the Biological Survey, would indicate the best results from a still larger dose. One grain killed a 21 pound dog in seventy-five minutes, while 2 grains killed a 40 pound dog in twenty-seven minutes, without acting as an emetic. For a wolf, therefore, 4 grains of pure sulphate of strychnine would seem to be a proper dose."

"Tests on 40 pound dogs with 1 and 2 grains of cyanide of potassium in capsules caused the dogs to vomit in about fourteen minutes, after which they fully recovered. Other more deadly poisons can not be safely handled, and strychnine is the only practicable poison that can be recommended."

"For wolves, place 4 grains of pulverized sulphate of strychnine in a 3 grain gelatin capsule, cap securely, and wipe off every trace of the bitter drug. The capsules should be inserted in a piece of beef suet the size of a walnut, and the cavity securely closed to keep out moisture. The juice of fresh meat will dissolve the gelatin capsule, hence only fat should be used. The necessary number of these poisoned baits may be prepared and carried in a tin can or pail, but they should not be touched with naked hands. Old gloves or forceps should be used to handle them. The baits may be dropped from horseback along a scented drag line made by dragging an old bone or piece of hide, or may be placed on, around, or partly under any carcass on which the wolves are feeding, or along trails followed by the wolves. Partial concealment of the bait usually lessens the wolfs suspicion, while some kind of scent near by or along the trail insures its attention."

"The gelatin capsule will dissolve in about a minute in the juices of the mouth or stomach. When the strychnine is taken on an empty stomach it will sometimes kill in a very few minutes after the first symptoms of poison, and dies five or six minutes later."

Although this is the method recommended by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, it is our opinion that it would not be successful, for it takes too long for the gelatin capsule to dissolve in the animal's stomach, anyway that is the verdict of those who have tried the method. Those who have followed poisoning of foxes and wolves, prefer to place the poison in a small ball of tallow by making the tallow cup-shaped when cold, putting the strychnine inside and closing the opening by pressing the edges over it. None of the poison must be allowed to touch the outside of the bait.

The most common method of using the poison is to have out a large bait (the carcass of some animal that the wolves have killed is to be preferred), and after the animals are visiting it the poisoned baits are thrown about nearby. Any indications of the presence of man will make the animals suspicious and they will hesitate to approach the large bait but are very apt to pick up and swallow the small ones. We believe that this is the most successful method of using poison, but there are other methods recommended by woodsmen. Some place the poison in the large bait but we think this is entirely wrong as the wolf will taste the poison before it gets enough of the drug to cause its death. One party in speaking of the conditions in Northern Ontario, says:

"I think the wolf-poisoning business is being overdone. How would your readers like to find poisoned wolf bait within one hundred yards of their door, and some all round their houses within a radius of 300 yards? This bait consists in many cases of, say, half a deer. I think it is very wrong to allow strong, able-bodied men to pollute the country, now in the spring of the year, with large pieces, or in many cases, whole carcasses of deer. The wolf poisoner never stops to think what the result will be to his neighbor's dogs or poultry and cattle from their leaving large pieces of meat in an exposed position when the snow goes off. In fact, the thing is being carried in this part so far that neither fur-bearing animals nor fish will be procurable at any cost in a short time."

"As it is, the farmer's dogs have been suffering, and are nearly extinct here. For the last few seasons it has been quite common to see large quantities of dead fish round the lake after this poisoned meat goes into the water. I understood that parties laying out poison had to observe certain regulations, so that no person's property would be endangered thereby, and if I am rightly informed, it must be some person's duty to stop the nuisance. No doubt it is a good thing to get rid of the wolves, but the poisoning ought to be prosecuted far enough from settlements and from public roads that stock and poultry will not be endangered by the bait."

It is advisable when using poison to leave no human odors on the bait and to prevent so doing, some people prepare the baits without touching them with the bare hands. A simpler method is to make up the baits several days in advance and place them in a clean vessel, out of reach of all animals, and where they will be exposed to the open air. In this way, the human odor will pass away, and when they are placed out for the wolves they should not be touched with the hands.

The poison should not be placed in a capsule as that is too uncertain. There is very little danger of giving an overdose. The writer has seen strychnine used in large doses, considerably more than four grains, and the results were far better than when using smaller doses.

Strychnine is to be had in crystals or in crushed or powdered form. Both forms are equally deadly, but some poisoners claim that it will act more rapidly when crushed. The following article on poisoning is given by a Wyoming trapper:

"I have used strychnine and it is a poor idea for a trapper to use it as it destroys more fur than anything and also makes animals very shy about taking bait. The best way is to put the strychnine in lard which has no salt in it. I take some lard and put on my gloves or mitts and go in the shade or early in the morning where it is almost at the freezing point, so the lard will stay hard. I pinch it off in one inch chunks, take it between my hands and roll it in round balls, take a pocket knife or stick and drill a hole in it. Then fill it with strychnine and close the opening up by mashing the lard over the hole. Be careful not to get any strychnine on the outside as it has a bitter taste and if he tastes it he is almost sure to spit it out."

"Care must be taken not to touch the outside with the bare hands as the first thing a coyote will do is to smell it and if there is much human scent on it, he will not take it. I dip it in blood to kill some of the human scent. I have known a coyote to travel half a mile with a piece of strychnined meat in his mouth and then feeling it work on him, drop it and trot on."

"Now to show that it wastes furs and makes them wild, suppose it had snowed, blowed or covered his track in some way; a skunk in passing by and finding it, would get poisoned, which would be a loss of one fur, or suppose it were a mink or something else, it would have been the same. The chances are that the trapper would not have found it until it was spoiled."

"A coyote will travel a few hundred yards after taking the strychnine, even if it is put in lard or tallow. If he has eaten a large meal of frozen meat and then the poison, he will go far enough so he will be hard to find, and never found if you have any amount of bait to look after and it blows and covers his tracks up and maybe his carcass too. The result is that it makes other animals of his tribe leery about taking baits."

"Birds such as magpies, ravens, and crows will eat poison and fly off and die and be devoured by coyotes, foxes, mink, skunk, etc. The result is that many of them die, and what don't, get so sick that they are very careful about touching the next bait they see, generally giving it a wide berth. Then there are lots of birds, such as camp robbers and magpies that carry it off and store it away for martens or something else to eat and get poisoned by. There was a very large amount of skunk, but owing to the fact that many people poison whole carcasses for coyotes and wolves, they are rapidly disappearing."

"Some people claim that the dog destroys more furs than anything, but I believe that strychnine is a greater evil than a dog or at least in this county, so you see I have a good reason for advising a trapper not to use strychnine. It is the easiest way and the quickest way to get a few furs, if in the hands of an experienced man, but the furs are always a lower grade because the poison acts on the fur and there is always a hide now and then that the hunter will not find at once."

"The trapper will have the most furs and in the best condition at the end of the season and generally a place to trap more at the next season. The strychnine hunter will have to hunt a different place as what animals he failed to kill, will leave the country or become so wary that they will not touch bait. An animal which has recovered from a dose of poison, carries a pelt that is oft times worthless."