Coyotes in Their Economic Relations

This 1905 U.S. Department of Agriculture bulletin offers a fascinating window into an era when America was waging systematic war against its native predators. David E. Lantz, writing for the Biological Survey, documents the coyote's devastating impact on the Western sheep industry with the dry precision of early scientific agriculture, but also with a rancher's visceral alarm. He compiles extensive data on predation patterns, estimated livestock losses reaching into the millions, and the emerging arsenal of predator control: poison, trap, fence, and hired hunter. Yet the document reveals more than methodology. It captures a pivotal moment when the frontier was closing, when science and commerce were reshaping the American landscape, and when the ecological wisdom of treating coyotes purely as economic enemies was still unquestioned. For readers interested in Western history, wildlife management evolution, or the origins of American environmental conflict, this bulletin serves as essential primary source material.