In the '70's, and
even in the early '80's, many tens of thousands of wolves were killed by
the wolfers in Montana and northern Wyoming and western Dakota. Nowadays
the surviving wolves of the plains have learned caution; they no longer
move abroad at midday, and still less do they dream of hanging on the
footsteps of hunter and traveler. Instead of being one of the most
common they have become one of the rarest sights of the plains. A hunter
may wander far and wide through the plains for months nowadays and
never see a wolf, though he will probably see many coyotes. However, the
diminution goes on, not steadily but by fits and starts, and moreover,
the beasts now and then change their abodes, and appear in numbers in
places where they have been scarce for a long period. In the present
winter of 1892-'93 big wolves are more plentiful in the neighborhood of
my ranch than they have been for ten years, and have worked some havoc
among the cattle and young horses. The cowboys have been carrying on the
usual vindictive campaign against them; a number have been poisoned, and
a number of others have fallen victims to their greediness, the cowboys
surprising them when gorged to repletion on the carcass of a colt or
calf, and, in consequence, unable to run, so that they are easily ridden
down, roped, and then dragged to death.
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