CHAPTER XVIII.
LOOKING AT TRAPS.
It is known to secure best results, traps should be looked at each day and the earlier in the morning the better. A trapper who has out from 50 to 150 traps scattered for a distance of ten, fifteen or twenty miles has a good day's work before him, but the trapper who has only a few should make his round early in the morning. It may be that an animal is not securely caught and an early visit to the trap will still find your game fast, whereas had you waited till later in the day it would have escaped.
Some trappers are inclined to believe that certain animals gnaw their legs off when caught. Our belief, after years of experience, is that if an animal is caught by the leg after some hours the flesh below the jaws of the trap becomes numb and the animal begins to gnaw it. If the bone is broken by the force of the jaws closing, the chances are that the animal may after a day or so escape. If the bone is not broken there is but little danger of the game getting away. The animal gnaws below the jaws, very seldom above.
One mistake that many trappers make is that on the first stormy or cold night of a prolonged cold spell, they neglect their traps until warm weather. Experienced trappers never do this; they know that the first night of a cold spell all animals are generally much more active than usual--they are hunting food and a good den. It seems that the fur-bearing animals are forewarned about the weather, or that instinct has endowed them with this power. At any rate they are on the alert the first night before a prolonged cold spell, and on just such nights the largest catches are usually made. A night that starts in only fairly cold and later turns quite cold--the beginning of a severe spell--is the night that the professional likes to see, or at any rate, he is out to his traps at the first sign of day.
In the dead of winter it may be of little use to look at traps for most game. Altho some animals, such as the mink, fox and weasel, do not hole up on account of cold weather. Skunks have been known to remain in their dens for eight weeks in winter. Several cases are on record where these animals have been tracked to their dens, all entrances closed, traps set within and no catch made for eight weeks.
In the Northern sections these animals hole up in December and remain there until early in February, unless there is a very warm spell. In other sections, in the South, they continue active throughout the entire season. In the Middle and Central States this animal remains in its den during severe weather only. At other times skunks have been known to remain in their dens for a month, but in such cases the animal has perhaps gone in on a rabbit, killed it and is living off its carcass.
Where the trapper is after otter, beaver, and muskrat, and his sets are made with the sliding pole or with a wire fastened to end of chain leading to deep water so that the animal is drowned, the traps need not be looked at daily, for the game is dead and under water, in which condition the fur will not be injured for some days.
Mink and coon are also caught in water sets, and should be drowned by using the same fastenings as for the water animals. It is a good idea to tie a weight to chain near the trap, so that when the animal is caught and gets into deep water, the additional weight helps to hold it down and so of course it drowns sooner.
Spring poles are used in many of the Northern States and Canada, so that when an animal is caught it is lifted several feet into the air and out of reach of other animals, but in other sections the spring pole is little used and trappers should get over their lines of traps as often as possible, for there is always more or less danger of the animal escaping or being destroyed by larger game.
The most successful trappers are those who visit their traps often. In addition to loosing little or no fur after once being caught, they keep their "sets" in good condition.
The experienced trapper knows that the first night before severe weather each winter, his traps are much more liable to contain game than on almost any other night. Why is this? Animal instinct tells the animal that winter weather is coming, and they travel much more just previous to cold snaps hunting food and good warm dens. At this time, too, they go into most any den to explore it. Some trappers neglect their traps the first cold night. This is a mistake, for the animal often travels the first night of a cold spell as well as the night previous. Of course they do not travel as much the first cold night as the night previous, but some animals not suited with the den found, stir around another night looking for better quarters.
This rule perhaps does not hold good for such animals as fox, mink, marten and other fur-bearers that keep traveling most nights during the winter, no matter how severe the weather, but with such animals as skunk, coon, opossum, muskrat, etc., it does. The first night of a cold spell early in the season and the first night of a warm spell during the winter, trappers should have their traps in good order.
Many trappers, as soon as the trapping season opens, set traps for all kinds of fur-bearing animals that are found on their grounds. This as a rule is a mistake. Skunk and muskrat should be taken first, from the fact that skunks den up with the first severe weather and muskrat are hid under the ice. So trap these animals in earnest at the first of the season.
On the other hand, mink and fox travel the coldest nights in midwinter as well as the warm ones; in fact, these two animals are most successfully trapped when some of the other fur-bearers are denned up. Coon, however, should also be trapped rather early, as they den up early in the season, although they come out on warm nights. By February 15th skunk are usually running again. This applies to central sections. Of course North and South, the conditions vary. In the extreme south the animals keep going all winter, while in the far North some den up for many months.
Trappers must use their judgment what to trap first, depending somewhat upon the number of trappers in their section. The above is meant for the trapper who is stationed for a full season at the same place. Of course the trapper who is moving, often takes any and all animals he can if the fur is prime.