Poision is something i wont even apply for a permit for.Its evil,even when youre talking about coyotes and wolves.I get a job done with snares and steel.And i dont leave the stinking things out there to rot.Poision is something disgruntled wives use.That gun you wer talking about had a pull pressure trigger and the round fired a cyanide capsuleinto his mouth.The usda stopped using it but there are still a few to be found.I never could figgure out why load a capsule,instead of a live round?As the US govt. keeps needing to find money wherever it can,the usda looses manpower.And people are having to hire it done,or do it themselves.BETTER GET A PERMIT THOUGH. Shooting a wolf in the lower 48 can realy mess up your hunting plans for the next 5 years.
ORIGINAL: EKM
Strychnine (a quite painful death) is systemic and will kill other animals down stream of the first victim if something predates on the first victim.
Cyanide (suffocation)is not systemic and will be rendered harmless within minutes after the first victims death as it quickly combines (chemically) with what ever it comes in touch with and becomes "tied up" and useless.
As I understand it, wolves are a curious sort and one weapon used during the "last go round" was the "rag-pull gun".... a scented rag was attached to a trigger and when "pulled upon" it fired a blast of cyanide into the wolves mouth face, this way it was "semi-selective".... with todays technology they could be made much more selective and safer than that.
These units were used as the wolf population was dwindling and it was getting harder to "get 'em.
Our grandfathers and great-grandfather's knew what they were doing.