COYOTES AFFECTED BY FOOD SUPPLY 247

In obtaining food they are extremely clever. When
our so-called rabbits, which are really a species of hare,
are to be had, the coyote lives on them almost exclusively,
and in years of abundance waxes fat and multiplies. The
rabbits are hunted by them in pairs, one sitting down
outside a patch of willows or other brush, and the other
going in on the opposite side to-drive them out. When
the rabbits are scarce, as they are periodically through
disease, all other food, such as grouse, ground squirrels,
and mice, are attacked so vigorously that they too soon
fail, and then the coyotes are hard pressed for sufficient
food to eke out a scanty existence, to say nothing of
feeding their pups properly. Under such circumstances
they become desperate, abandon a lot of their caution,
and take risks to secure a meal which they would never
do otherwise. At such times they stay in closer proximity
to farms and steal calves, sheep, and chickens. But even
then, though they are more easily trapped or poisoned,
they still give a man with a rifle a wide berth.

Some years ago, owing to an abundant food supply for
years in succession, coyotes thrived to such an extent
that for a time it almost looked as if they would put
the farmers out of business in certain areas. Then came
a severe epidemic among the rabbits, and soon afterwards
the coyotes died off too, but before they did so, farmers
and cattle ranchers were kept busy night and day protecting
their stock, Yet in spite of their exertions the coyotes
robbed them of their calves in an almost unbelievable
way. One cattle rancher had several hundred cows in
a calving pasture, and among the cows five or six coyotes
took up their abode. To shoot the ‘‘ varmints”’ without
hitting a cow was almost impossible, and they could not
be driven away. These pests hung to that pasture for
several days, during which time a man had to be kept
there night and day; and whenever a calf was born there
would be a race between the man and the intruders for
its possession. How they were got rid of I never heard.

Once in a while coyotes will make an attempt to catch
wild ducks and even geese, though I have never seen them