Wild Animals I Have Known | Page 7

acquaintance of the wily marauder,
and at length came to know him more thoroughly than anyone else.
Some years before, in the Bingo days, I had been a wolf-hunter, but my
occupations since then had been of another sort, chaining me to stool
and desk. I was much in need of a change, and when a friend, who was
also a ranch-owner on the Currumpaw, asked me to come to New
Mexico and try if I could do anything with this predatory pack, I
accepted the invitation and, eager to make the acquaintance of its king,
was as soon as possible among the mesas of that region. I spent some
time riding about to learn the country. and at intervals my guide would
point to the skeleton of a cow to which the hide still adhered, and
remark, "That's some of his work."
It became quite clear to me that, in this rough country, it was useless to
think of pursuing Lobo with hounds and horses, so that poison or traps
were the only available expedients. At present we had no traps large
enough, so I set to work with poison.
I need not enter into the details of a hundred devices that I employed to
circumvent this 'loup-garou'; there was no combination of strychnine,
arsenic, cyanide, or prussic acid, that I did not essay; there was no
manner of flesh that I did not try as bait; but morning after morning, as
I rode forth to learn the result, I found that all my efforts had been
useless. The old king was too cunning for me. A single instance will
show his wonderful sagacity. Acting on the hint of an old trapper, I
melted some cheese together with the kidney fat of a freshly killed

heifer, stewing it in a china dish, and cutting it with a bone knife to
avoid the taint of metal.
When the mixture was cool, I cut it into lumps, and making a hole in
one side of each lump, I inserted a large dose of strychnine and cyanide,
contained, in a capsule that was impermeable by any odor; finally I
sealed the holes up with pieces of the cheese itself. During the whole
process, I wore a pair of gloves steeped in the hot blood of the heifer,
and even avoided breathing on the baits. When all was ready, I put
them in a raw-hide bag rubbed all over with blood, and rode forth
dragging the liver and kidneys of the beef at the end of a rope. With
this I niade a ten-mile circuit, dropping a bait at each quarter of a mile,
and taking the utmost care, always, not to touch any with my hands.
Lobo, generally, came into this part of the range in the early part of
each week, and passed the latter part, it was supposed. around the base
of Sierra Grande. This was Monday, and that same evening, as we were
about to retire, I heard the deep bass howl of his majesty. On hearing it
one of the boys briefly remarked, "There he is, we'll see."
The next morning I went forth, eager to know the result. I soon came
on the fresh trail of the robbers, with Lobo in the lead--his track was
always easily distinguished. An ordinary wolf's forefoot is 4 1/2 inches
long, that of a large wolf 4 3/4 inches, but Lobo's, as measured a
number of times, was 5 1/2 inches from claw to heel; I afterward found
that his other proportions were commensurate, for he stood three feet
high at the shoulder, and weighed 150 pounds. His trail, therefore,
though obscured by those of his followers, was never difficult to trace.
The pack had soon found the track of my drag, and as usual followed it.
I could see that Lobo had come to the first bait, sniffed about it, and
finally had picked it up.
Then I could not conceal my delight. "I've got him at last," I exclaimed;
"I shall find him stark within a mile," and I galloped on with eager eyes
fixed on the great broad track in the dust. It led me to the second bait
and that also was gone. How I exulted--I surely have him now and
perhaps several of his band. But there was the broad pawmark still on
the drag; and though I stood in the stirrup and scanned the plain I saw

nothing that looked like a dead wolf. Again I followed--to find now
that the third bait was gone--and the king-wolf's track led on to the
fourth, there to learn that he had not really taken a bait at all, but had
merely carried them in his mouth, Then having piled the three on the
fourth, he scattered filth over them