The coyote is especially notorious as an enemy of the sheep industry. In many parts of the West sheep raising has greatly languished because of the depredations of wild animals upon the flocks. While some of the injury is caused by the larger wolves, mountain lions, bears, and lynxes, the coyotes are by far the most formidable enemy. They are not only more abundant than the other animals mentioned, but they are present throughout the year, and their depredations are a steady drain upon the resources of the flock owner, comparable in extent to the losses caused by worthless dogs in many parts of the country.[D]
[D] In 1801 the loss from dogs was placed at $152,034 in Ohio and $200,000 in Missouri. (Sheep Industry in the United States. U. S. Dept of Agric, 1892.)
Dr. E. A. C. Foster, writing from Russell, Kans., in 1887, said:
Of mammals, the prairie wolf is perhaps the most troublesome. It is constantly preying upon sheep and lambs; so much so that sheep can not be left alone without some of them falling a prey to this animal. Should the herder be absent or out of view, the wolf makes a dash into the flock and usually secures a lamb.
William Lloyd, writing from Paint Rock, Concho County, Tex., said:
In January. 1886, coyotes killed over 30 sheep near Fort Stockton, and in March about 20 at Toyah, Tex.
Charles W. Richmond, in 1888, wrote to the Survey from Gallatin County. Mont., relating the following incident:
While we were camped near Bozeman a flock of some 4,000 sheep were driven by, and night overtook them on some foothills south of Bozeman. During the night a flock of coyotes entered the ranks and the sheep stampeded. Many ran over some bluffs, and next morning sheep, dead and dying, were several feet deep at the foot of the bluffs. Nearly 500 were counted in the pile, and for several days afterwards sheep, with lacerated ears and torn flanks, wandered into barnyards in the vicinity. The total number lost must have been heavy.
In parts of the Southwest sheep growers have estimated their losses from wild animals as equal to 20 percent of the flock. The average loss reported from several States is 5 percent. In nearly all the States west of the Mississippi the industry has declined in the past two years, and one of the principal causes given is losses from coyotes. At present the industry thrives only in sections where the local conditions permit the herding of sheep in large flocks—a system highly injurious to the pasturage.
It is evident that the wealth of any State could be materially increased if it were possible everywhere to keep small flocks of sheep, Flocks increase rapidly under favorable conditions and good management, and the cost of keeping them is small when herders can be dispensed with. The double product, wool and million, usually places the profit of handling them above that of cuttle or horses. The gains also come oftener, since sheep mature in a year, while cattle and horse require three.