Tito had many adventures in which she did not come out so well. Once she
nearly caught an Antelope fawn, but the hunt was spoiled by the sudden
appearance of the mother, who gave Tito a stinging blow on the side of
the head and ended her hunt for that day. She never again made that
mistake--she had sense. Once or twice she had to jump to escape the
strike of a Rattlesnake. Several times she had been fired at by hunters
with long-range rifles. And more and more she had to look out for the
terrible Grey Wolves. The Grey Wolf, of course, is much larger and
stronger than the Coyote, but the Coyote has the advantage of speed, and
can always escape in the open. All it must beware of is being caught in
a corner. Usually when a Grey Wolf howls the Coyotes go quietly about
their business elsewhere.
Tito had a curious fad, occasionally seen among the Wolves and Coyotes,
of carrying in her mouth, for miles, such things as seemed to be
interesting and yet were not tempting as eatables. Many a time had she
trotted a mile or two with an old Buffalo-horn or a cast-off shoe, only
to drop it when something else attracted her attention. The cow-boys who
remark these things have various odd explanations to offer: one,
that it is done to stretch the jaws, or keep them in practice, just as a
man in training carries weights. Coyotes have, in common with Dogs and
Wolves, the habit of calling at certain stations along their line of
travel, to leave a record of their visit. These stations may be a stone,
a tree, a post, or an old Buffalo-skull, and the Coyote calling there
can learn, by the odour and track of the last comer, just who the caller
was, whence he came, and whither he went. The whole country is marked
out by these intelligence depots. Now it often happens that a Coyote,
that has not much else to do will carry a dry bone or some other useless
object in its mouth, but sighting the signal-post, will go toward it to
get the news, lay down the bone, and afterwards forget to take it along,
so that the signal-posts in time become further marked with a curious
collection of odds and ends.
{Illustration}
This singular habit was the cause of a disaster to the Chimney-pot
Wolf-hounds, and a corresponding advantage to the Coyotes in the war.
Jake had laid a line of poison baits on the western bluffs. Tito knew
what they were, and spurned them as usual; but finding more later, she
gathered up three or four and crossed the Little Missouri toward the
ranch-house. This she circled at a safe distance; but when something
made the pack of Dogs break out into clamour, Tito dropped the baits,
and next day, when the Dogs were taken out for exercise they found and
devoured these scraps of meat, so that in ten minutes, there were four
hundred dollars' worth of Greyhounds lying dead. This led to an edict
against poisoning in that district, and thus was a great boon to the
Coyotes.
{Illustration}
Tito quickly learned that not only each kind of game must be hunted in a
special way, but different ones of each kind may require quite different
treatment. The Prairie-dog with the outlying den was really an easy
prey, but the town was quite compact now that he was gone. Near the
centre of it was a fine, big, fat Prairie-dog, a perfect alderman, that
she had made several vain attempts to capture. On one occasion she had
crawled almost within leaping distance, when the angry _bizz_ of a
Rattlesnake just ahead warned her that she was in danger. Not that the
Ratler cared anything about the Prairie-dog, but he did not wish to
be disturbed; and Tito, who had an instinctive fear of the Snake, was
forced to abandon the hunt. The open stalk proved an utter, failure with
the Alderman, for the situation of his den made every Dog in the town
his sentinel; but he was too good to lose, and Tito waited until
circumstances made a new plan.
All Coyotes have a trick of watching from a high look-out whatever
passes along the roads. After it has passed they go down and examine its
track. Tito had this habit, except that she was always careful to keep
out of sight herself.
One day a wagon passed from the town to the southward. Tito lay low and
watched it. Something dropped on the road. When the wagon was out of
sight Tito sneaked down, first to smell the trail as a matter of habit,
second to see what it was that had dropped. The object was really an
apple, but Tito saw only an unattractive round green thing like a
cactus-leaf without spines, and of a peculiar smell. She snuffed it,
spurned it, and was about to pass on; but the sun shone on it so
brightly, and it rolled so curiously when she pawed, that she picked it
up in a mechanical way and trotted back over the rise, where are found
herself at the Dog-town. Just then two great Prairie-hawks came skimming
like pirates over the plain. As soon as they were in sight the
Prairie-dogs all barked, jerking their tails at each bark, and hid below.
When all were gone Tito walked on toward the hole of the big fat fellow whose
body she coveted, and dropping the apple on the ground a couple of feet
from the rim of the crater that formed his home, she put her nose down
to enjoy the delicious smell of Dog-fat. Even his den smelled more
fragrant than those of the rest. Then she went quietly behind a
greasewood bush, in a lower place some twenty yards away, and lay flat.
After a few seconds some venturesome Prairie-dog looked out, and seeing
nothing, gave the "all's well" bark. One by one they came out, and in
twenty minutes the town was alive as before. One of the last to come out
was the fat old Alderman. He always took good care of his own precious
self. He peered out cautiously a few times, then climbed to the top of
his look-out. A Prairie-dog hole is shaped like a funnel, going straight
down. Around the top of this is built a high ridge which serves as a
look-out, and also makes sure that, no matter how they may slip in their
hurry, they are certain to drop into the funnel and be swallowed up by
the all-protecting earth. On the outside the ground slopes away gently
from the funnel. Now, when the Alderman saw that strange round thing at
his threshold he was afraid. Second inspection led him to believe that
it was not dangerous, but was probably interesting. He went cautiously
toward it, smelled it, and tried to nibble it; but the apple rolled
away, for it was round, and the ground was smooth as well as sloping.
The Prairie-dog followed and gave it a nip which satisfied him that the
strange object would make good eating. But each time he nibbled, it
rolled farther away. The coast seemed clear, all the other Prairie-dogs
were out, so the fat Alderman did not hesitate to follow up the dodging,
shifting apple.
This way and that it wriggled, and he followed. Of course it worked
toward the low place where grew the greasewood bush. The little tastes
of apple that he got only whetted his appetite. The Alderman was more
and more interested. Foot by foot he was led from his hole toward that
old, familiar bush and had no thought of anything but the joy of eating.
And Tito curled herself and braced her sinewy legs, and measured the
distance between, until it dwindled to not more than three good jumps;
then up and like an arrow she went, and grabbed and bore him off at
last.
It will never be known whether it was accident or design that led to the
placing of that apple, but it proved important, and if such a thing were
to happen once or twice to a smart Coyote,--and it is usually clever
ones that get such chances,--it might easily grow into a new trick of
hunting.
{Illustration}
After a hearty meal Tito buried the rest in a cold place, not to get rid
of it, but to hide it for future use; and a little later, when she was
too weak to hunt much, her various hoards of this sort came in very
useful. True, the meat had turned very strong; but Tito was not
critical, and she had no fears or theories of microbes, so suffered no
ill effects.