When the first wolf was still a half mile distant, the dogs were released and riders and dogs dashed to the front to head off the animals. Hemmed in in front and rear, they broke to the right and to the left, and many made good their escape through the thinner lines of the east and the west divisions. The sport was fast and furious for a short time, but when a little Later the dead and captured wolves were brought together in the town, they were found to number only eleven in all. Two of them were roped by cowboys during the drive and killed with pistols. Two were dragged to death at the end of lariats. Seven were caught by the dogs in the round-up, and two of these were brought in alive. Many escaped, but it is impossible to estimate the number. Such hunts have considerable influence in decreasing the number of coyotes and also afford an agreeable break in the monotony of frontier life. Their purpose, however, is never admitted to be that of sport, but to kill coyotes. BOUNTIES. Activity in the warfare against the coyote has been considerably stimulated by the payment of bounties from the public treasury of the States and counties. Nearly all the States in which coyotes occur have been for years maintaining such bounty systems. In some parts of the West these are supplemented by rewards from stock associations or ranch owners. The bounties from public funds have ranged from 25 cents to $5 for each animal killed, but supplementary payments sometimes make them as high as $15. The subject of bounties in general has been already discussed by Dr. T. S. Palmer, of the Biological Survey.[G] Doctor Palmer refers to the California coyote act of 1891, which was practically in force only eighteen months, but which cost the State $187,485. As the bounty was $5 per scalp, this represented the destruction of 37,493 coyotes. Kansas, with a county bounty of $1 per animal, succeeds in destroying about 20,000 each year. In addition to the bounty, the pelt of an adult coyote is worth from 50 cents to $1.50, according to its condition. However, most of the killing is accomplished in spring, when the female and her young are dug out of dens and the pelage of the adults is not in prime condition. [Footnote G: Extermination of Noxious Animals by Bounties. Yearbook U. S. Dept of Agr., 1896, pp. 55-68.]