How I Trap Wolves

Fred Feller, Aged 16, of Northeastern Utah, Tells The Day Book Readers, Including Old Boys, How He Catches Dangerous Wolf and Cowardly Coyote—His Rule for the Trapping Game.

Not long ago an item appeared in a little western paper which told of a boy in northwestern Utah who had received $1,070 in bounties for wolves and coyotes he had trapped. He is Fred Feller, 16 years of age, whose father has a farm, or ranch, as they call them in the west, in northeastern Utah. The editor of The Day Book thought Fred might have a pretty good story to tell the boys, including old boys, so he wrote to Fred at his home near Randolph, Utah, and offered to add to his little bank account if he would write the story on how to trap wolves and coyotes. The following is the reply. You must bear in mind that Fred is not, as he tells the editor, a college product, but has lived all his life in sparsely settled country, where schools are few.

By Fred Feller, Jr., of Randolph, Utah.

One can’t learn to trap exclusively from books or by hearing other people talk, any more than you can learn to throw a lasso-rope or ride a bronco out of a book. But after one has had some experience in trapping, and has trapped one species of animal he can trap the most of them.

Although I have been very successful in trapping, I don’t recommend it for an occupation, for it is a very uncertain business. Ranchers should trap to destroy pests and can make money at the same time. (That is the way I do). Every boy that has a chance should trap. If he is in a good place to trap he can make quite a little sum of money in a season. And he can learn many things about animals. It is generally the boy that has to walk a long way to school that does the best trapping.

I am often asked, “What kind of bait do you use?” and “What kind of bait do you think is best?” I don’t think there is any “best” bait. The poorest kind of bait will sometimes catch them where the best bait will fail. But of course they like some bait better than others. They like cottontail (rabbit) mutton, pork, veal, horse, liver, beef and jack-rabbit. That is for coyotes, and for wolves I think veal, horse, pork and mutton are about the best.

To conceal traps I take an ax and chop out a hole in the ground just large enough to fit the trap and deep enough so when the pan of the trap is covered over about a quarter of an inch it will all appear level.

I never cover traps that are to be left any length of time with earth, but with something that don’t freeze very easy, I use leaves and brush.

About the three main things to watch when setting traps is to set the traps where the coyotes will stand, cover them so they will go off when they do stand on them and make everything appear natural around.

I never move a trap after I have caught one. Other animals will come there and scratch around. They are not so suspicious. It doesn’t matter if there is some of their own blood there.

Sometimes I drag a bloody piece of meat from one trap to another and they will follow the trail.

To kill the scent of iron take straw or hay and start it afire. Smother it and hold the trap in the smoke. Be careful and not get the springs hot.

Old wagon spokes make excellent stakes for traps. Always stake or tie a small bait.

Now I want to tell about the wolves and coyotes as I find them. That is one thing the boy who traps learns—all about animals.

There are two distinct species of wolf that I know of, the timber wolf and the coyote. The coyote is often confused with the wolf. It is known in the fur trade as prairie wolf or coyote, and sometimes just wolf. The coyote is smaller than the wolf. Its fur is finer. It has a thinner skin. Its ears are larger. Their ears are erect. The wolf’s ears are more pointed and it has a longer tail according to its size.

A full grown coyote weighs from 18 to 35 pounds. An average one measures 4 feet 10 inches from the point of the nose to the tip of the tail, with a tail of about 15 inches.

In different localities wolves receive different names, such as gray wolf, white wolf, black wolf, etc. They vary greatly in size and color, but in every other way they are the same. The most common color is gray. Several different colors can sometimes be seen in one pack and even in one den. An average size wolf stands 28 inches at the shoulders and weighs about 75 pounds, and measuring nearly 6 feet. They vary in size from 50 to 160 pounds and measuring as much as six and a half feet. The white wolves are generally the largest, but there are large and small wolves among all colors. The largest wolves I ever seen was a nearly black one and a white one.

Coyotes and wolves are found in the timber and on the plain. They inhabit all the sage brush country of the west. Coyotes continually follow the herds of sheep. They do a great amount of damage to the sheep industry of this country every year. They also prey upon rabbits and in the springtime the prairie hens suffer from their depredations. They kill the hen on her nest and then eat the eggs.

While the coyote is the worst enemy of the sheep the wolf is the worst enemy of the cattle and horses. A wolf sometimes kills sheep—generally quite a number—and coyotes sometimes kill calves, but not very often.

Both coyotes and wolves have a large number of pups, often as many as 10. They bring them forth in April and May. They have holes in rocks or in large badger holes for their dens. They have more than one den, sometimes as many as a dozen within a mile or two, so as soon as they are molested they move to a new one.

Coyotes are generally shy, cowardly creatures, but they will sometimes come close to a person to fight with the dogs.

I’ve never heard of a wolf trying to make prey of a man but once. Wolves are not half so dangerous as most people think. All that I have seen, except on one or two occasions, put themselves out of sight as soon as possible.