| Show NOW RAISE WOLVES special to the standard st paul january there is a marked increase in the number of wolves noticeable ti in the northwest north west territory various theories are advanced to account for this condition of things shrewd residents of the worst infested sections have no hesitation in blaming the bounty law for the increase and claim if it is not discontinued there will be aa many wolves in the sn a decade as there were rabbits in australia five years ago twenty five deais ago wolves were one of the most common nuisances of the sparsely peopled regions of the northwest ten and twenty dollars apiece were majd for their skins by the state local governments on account of their ravages among the flocks and their attacks upon children when hungry the highest bounty now paid is in minnesota from which state comes the most alarming reports of hs increase bof animae in the northern part of this state they are reported aa peculiarly numerous and several cases have recently been reported of attacks made by them on lonely travellers trav ellers in some instances lives are said to have been during the summer the timber wolves arc practically harmless eliut with the arrival of cold weather and the cutting off of their natural tood supplies they become bolder and bolder until their ferocity becomes fully developed ve loped wolf hunting is an excellent sport and fully as exciting as running down a fox in fact there is an clement and spice of danger to it that surpasses that of hunting even buffalo or fox this is particularly so when the huntera have to change places with the animals and in turn be hunted themselves as was the case already once this winter A crowd of sportsmen from duluth catered the woods on the dakota bordui recently in search of wolves they were not disappointed a couple of the gray species being started up after ti short ride after a goodrun good run during which the wolves gave their pursuers no chance for a shot the hunters found themselves ambushed by about a hundred wolves and only by adroit manoeuvres managed to escape from them there is talk of arranging for some huhta on a colossal scale and ranchman ranchmen ranch men and farmers are being called upon by agricultural journals to aid in stamping out these peats before they grow more abundant and get beyond control in this there is a corresponding increase in alic number of wolves but it is very different reasons from those prevailing in dakota it la believed at anc state auditors onice that wholesale frauds arc perpetrated in regard to the bounty money paid for alio skins and an en ort will be made to have the law rescinded y there 13 no doubt that farmers tn fifine parts of the state been mak ing a good thing out of the bounty and that they have cither with or without the connivance of county clarka and others drawn thousands thou sanda of dollars ille j from alic state treasury the 1 etota now pays but a dollar a pelt while tho county pays three dollars in the past ten years lias been paid by the state flonc aa bounty with claims sn and thoo expected to be filed shortly not acs ics a than W bo demanded of tho ate up to the end of alic present winter alio cattlemen and sheep farmers for whose the have been killed claim there are now more wolves than ever in the state that losses are increasing and that the whole bounty system i a farce they eay that one wolf skin is sometimes worth a hundred bollara do llara because it is used over and over again to substantiate claims for bounty the skins are never marked in any way it is said to chow eliat ali bounty has once been paid on them and therefore there is nothing to prevent their acin utilized again in many the ins arc simply thrown out of the window by the county clerk and carefully collected again to as boon as there had been to make raid according to claims filed a hundred wolves a is the record for diligent bounty gatherers B tharo io no law to prevent enterprising people om raining wolves for their skins and so the fraud can go merrily ion as long as no one objects to paying the bilk u i |
