Night Loop

A thief works best in the night, but a cow thief cannot drive cattle or chase them to rope them with facility in the night. If he is not too greedy and is content to glean only a few head in a night, he might, if he is a skilled cow thief, use a night loop. He rides close to another man’s stock and slowly, effortlessly, drops a hoolie over the head of the stock, or rides beside the stock as though to goon by, and drops a loop across his chest. A bovine on his bed ground, chewing his cud, or one just standing up in surprise, swallowing his cud, is usually too surprised, when caught in the dark, to bawl.