CHAPTER XVII.
WHERE TO SET.
Knowing exactly where to set in all cases can not be told unless the trapping region is seen as well as each den, but in a general way some points can be given that will prove of value. Favorable places to set can be made to include a number of situations. By this we mean that many take a good part of their catch each season at places away from the dens or homes of animals. Time and again have we seen traps set along creeks, in the woods, at drift piles and other places where there were no dens. Yet these trappers knew that fur-bearing animals frequented such places.
A trapper always should be on the outlook for signs of game. These include dung at dens, tracks at dens and along creeks and low wet places, feathers and bones at dens, etc. A close inspection of dens, will also show long hairs, if the same is used much by animals just before the fur begins to get good, as they then shed many of the long hairs. The experienced trapper knows from these just what kind of an animal is using a certain den, and of course he knows what sized trap to use and how to proceed to set the same for the capture of the game.
An important thing for all trappers to learn is to distinguish dens used by fur-bearing animals from those of rabbits, etc. This can be done in several ways: Long hairs of skunk, opossum, coon, etc., are frequently found in the entrance to dens; tracks of these and other animals should be watched for; pieces of bones and feathers near dens is also a good indication that game is in the near vicinity--at least it may be known that it has been there quite recently.
There is as much in knowing the locality that game frequents as there is in how to set traps. The person who has made a study of the habits of fur-bearing animals knows pretty well the locality that each animal frequents. By this we mean that he knows that skunks, in the fall, are often found in open fields, in sink holes, etc., while later in the season they are found on higher land. This applies to the hilly sections in particular. Opossum and coon he knows are apt to be found in the dense woods, and mink along streams and swamps.
Trappers who have long lines of traps will find that it saves time and walking to have their traps bunched; that is, where they set one trap, should there be many dens, they should set two or three more. After doing this they can travel some distance before setting others, unless extra good dens are found, or other dens directly on their route. We have known three traps, within 100 feet of each other all to contain game, but this is an exception. More often, to be sure, they are all empty when the trapper makes his round. Yet it often pays to have traps bunched as an animal may go to several dens and turn away but enter another only a few feet distant. The trapper who has only a few traps will do best by scattering them and baiting each trap.
Along some bluff there may be a score or perhaps a hundred dens, and to set a trap at each is out of the question, with the trapper who has an abundance of traps, as well as the one who has only a few. At such places it is best to set your traps where there are the most signs. Traps set here should be baited and the bait placed back in the den, beyond the trap.
It is not necessary to set traps in the dens to catch your game, altho that is considered one of the best places, for some animals have no certain dens, but hole up for the day, wherever daylight finds them. By this we mean they enter the first den they find. This being the case, trappers who know the locality, that is the feeding grounds of game, are most successful. Should you set your trap in the entrance to some den and no animal live there or pass that way there is no chance of being rewarded for the trouble.
As is well known, most fur-bearing animals are carnivorous, feeding on flesh, and the trapper who can locate the place, that is the hunting grounds of the game he is trapping, is usually successful. Along creeks in the mud and sand, look for mink and coon tracks. If they are found often, their dens are not far off. Both of these animals are much given to traveling along creeks and low swampy land and we have seen at such a place bait nailed to a tree, some two feet from the ground, and a trap nicely set just beneath it. The trap too, was set in the right place, for game was caught. It may be that in your trapping rounds you will come to a den where a rabbit or some bird has been devoured. Often you find that it has been eaten close to the entrance. Here is just the place to set your trap for if the animal is not now within it is apt to return.
The various sets made by trappers may be divided into three classes, known as land, water and snow sets, altho each can be varied to suit different cases. The land set is used for all land animals and includes sets made at dens in trails, paths, etc.
Snow sets are largely used for the shyer animals such as fox and wolf altho trappers use this set for any land animal when they think conditions right. Traps when set for foxes and wolves are usually set just before a snow fall, if the trapper is enough of a weather prophet to do this.
The water set is used mostly for otter, beaver and muskrat. Mink and raccoon are also caught in large numbers in water sets. Fox trappers in the Northeast catch many foxes in springs at water sets before hard freezing weather sets in.
I will give an excellent method of trapping animals on land writes an Ohio trapper. Fasten your bait to the body of a tree about a foot from the ground and near a den or other place frequented by the animals you want to catch. Dig up the ground at the foot of the tree and cover the loose earth with leaves, also place your brush drag near the tree and after the animal begins to eat the bait, set your trap right under it and about six or eight inches from the tree and fastening the trap to the brush drag. Replace the leaves over the trap and cover the chain with leaves or dead grass. Do not disturb anything around the trap but leave the drag, etc., just as it was before the trap was set.
For mink fasten the bait on the side of a log, one end of which rests in the water and the other on the bank of the stream. The bait should be at least ten inches from the ground. Set your traps under the bait and staple the chain to the log. The first mink that comes along will pass under the log and stopping to investigate the bait will get his toes pinched. The best covering for this set is dead grass, leaves or snow. The best bait for mink is the head of a fowl or a piece of fish or muskrat.
About trapping mink in their den; first, if you find a den where a mink is living, says a trapper, don't by any means mash the brush or grass down around the den holes, but approach it very carefully with not less than two traps, all set and ready to place at the mouth or entrance of the den.
Now look sharply to see which hole the mink uses most. You can tell by the leaves and the grass which are worn to a sort of chaff in the mouth or entrance of the den. If you look carefully you will perhaps see three or five holes. You will always see two or three holes larger than any of the rest. The smaller holes are to escape by when any larger animal comes into the den.
If you look sharply you will notice a few inches from one of the holes another hole which he uses. Well, make a bed and place your trap deep enough to be covered lightly, just in front of this hole and so that your trap jaws will close lengthwise with the hole or the worn path. Never set your trap crosswise to a mink hole or run. Always drive your stake level, with the ground in which your trap is set if possible. Now go to the hole in front of the den and set your other trap or traps in the same manner, make just as little noise as possible while setting the traps and when leaving.