CHAPTER V.

TRAPS AND HINTS.

My idea is that manufacturers make traps too strong for the animal it is made for, says C. F. Keith. Now the No. 2 is too strong for fox, and also it is very hard to conceal from view.

Of course if you get a fox in a No. 2 you are more sure than if he is caught in a No. 1 1/2 or smaller. I use the No. 1 1/2 Newhouse for fox and I find it the best fox trap made. I have also used the Jump and the Blake & Lamb, but I do not like them as well. Some trappers think that the Blake & Lamb are the best mink traps made. I beg leave to differ with them, for the simple reason that I have lost many a mink by the trap cutting off the leg and the mink escaping, which never happens with the Newhouse.

The Blake & Lamb trap are, without doubt, the best trap to conceal, but when it comes to be the best trap it is not in it with the Newhouse. I think if trappers would use long chains when using clogs, they would have better luck in trapping the fox. The kind of traps I use are the No. 1 1/2 Newhouse for fox, with four foot chains. When I first began to trap fox I used cheap traps, and many a fox have I lost by not knowing enough to use good traps. By all means, trappers, buy good traps in the first place and you will not be sorry.

Now let me first give you a few pointers on fox trapping. First, forget everything you have bought from humbugs and use common sense; second, study the habits of the fox and you will have better success. Third, be sure and have your traps in proper shape so the fox can't smell the iron; fourth, be careful in making a set, use the wooden paddle or gloved hand in placing dirt over trap; fifth, be sure that your bait is not scented with human scent, and use cat, skunk, or muskrat scents.

I have bought scent for many years, but the best scent I can find is skunk essence or oil of anise. Skunk essence and honey equal parts, but never use skunk essence in early winter, as it will be a failure. I have trapped fox for many years and I am very successful and lucky, and every fall I believe I learn something.

Another thing, never get discouraged, for it is grit that counts. When a fox turns the trap over reset it and place another trap in the bed, and you are liable to catch him the first night, but if this fails, turn trap bottom side up and he will get fooled, sometimes, not always, for fox trapping is uncertain.

In the first place, when an animal gets into a trap he tears around for a while, says G. F. Moon, of Dakota, and if the trap be lightly clogged so he can move around, the trapper most generally finds his game when he visits the traps. On the other hand, let the trap get fastened solid and the animal sets his reasoning powers to work; he finds out that he can chew from the under side of the jaws of the trap, and that too without giving himself any pain, and finds that he can easily slip the trap off from the stump of his leg.

Man has been known to do the same thing, when by accident he has been caught by the leg by a tree or a large rock falling on him. Surely the animal showed as much reason as the man. I once had a large fox trap set in a hollow log. The log was about the size of a barrel. A she fox got into the trap, and as the trap was a good bit out of the way I did not visit it for several days. When I did visit the trap the snow was all tramped down by foxes around the log and on the inside of the log by the fox in the trap. There were the remains of several rabbits and one whole rabbit fresh killed, one fresh killed quail and feathers enough to have been on a couple more quail. Now the question arises, "Did the other foxes let instinct guide them to feed the unfortunate fox in the trap? Or did they use their power of reason?" I leave that for others to answer.