Young trappers can learn much by making the rounds with experienced trappers. The following conversation between Fred and an old Pennsylvania trapper is interesting:
"Where was the trap set? I do not see any bait pen."
"Fred, you take this stick and walk up slowly to him; go up close and give him a sharp blow across the back of the neck. That will fix him. You see that big mossy log laying on the bank over there. That was where he was caught. We will now set the trap again. See this little sink in the log. That is where the trap was set. This limb is what the trap was fastened to, one end on the ground and the other comes just up to the log where the trap is set, and we will staple the trap to it. We will now cover it with moss just like this on this log, but we will get it from another log. No one could tell that there was a trap there."
"Will not the fox smell it?"
"He might if it was not for this fox carcass. We will skin the fox. Look out there, Fred, do not disturb the moss or anything on that log where the trap is. Keep away from that. We will put this carcass in the little hollow and will drive a crotched stake straddle of its neck; drive it well down; now take this stick and rake some leaves over it, cover the neck where the stake is quite well, the rest of the carcass only lightly. You have done it very well and the fox will not notice what scent there is on the trap as long as that carcass is there."
"But you had no carcass there when you caught this one, and I have heard that a fox was afraid of the scent of iron."
"That is all bosh! Keep the traps free from all foreign scent and you need not be afraid of the scent of the iron, but if you catch some animal in the trap then you must have some of the scent of that animal around near the trap. This will overcome what scent there is on the trap. This, however, is only necessary with shy animals like the fox. Coon and skunk are not afraid of what they smell.
"How did you know that a fox would go on that log where that trap was set?"
"By knowing the nature of the animal. When the fox smelt the bear bait in the pen there we knew that he would get on the highest point near the pen to investigate, and that point was that log."
"Is this the only way you catch foxes?"
"No, this is only one of the many ways."
The fox is the most cunning animal we have, consequently he is the most difficult one to trap, says C. E. Matheny, of Ohio. But like all other animals he has a weak point, and if you attack him at this point he will, without a doubt, fall into your snares. One of the most important things when about to trap a fox is to have the trap perfectly clean. The word clean, in this sense, does not allude to freedom from rust, but means that the trap should be entirely free from human scent. In order to avoid this, the trap must be thoroughly washed in lye and when dry, well greased and smoked over burning feathers. It has already been said that the fox has a very keen scent, but it is particularly shy and scary at the least odor of the human body. It is therefore necessary when handling the trap to use clean buckskin, or still better, rubber gloves, and unless this important precaution is observed success is very improbable. The next step is to make the bed for the trap, and although there are various ways of doing this, the following, I believe, is the best method.
The bed should be about three and a half feet in diameter, and made of wheat, hay or buckwheat chaff. Some trappers use wood ashes, but any of the above will be found better. The ground upon which the bed is made should be hollowed out in the center so as to admit the trap, and the bed should be made as hard as possible and deep enough to cover the trap, and at the same time be perfectly level with the ground.
When the bed is made as directed, take the trap (which should be a No. 2 and have a chain and clog attached to it) and place it in the hollow in the center of the bed. After setting the trap put some of the chaff inside the jaws as high as the pan. Cover the pan with paper so that the chaff will not prevent its working freely, and then cover the whole with chaff and level it off so that the fox will not suspect a trap to be there; finally bait it with fresh meat, cheese, or better still, cracklings after lard is pressed out. Scatter them liberally over the bed; do not tramp about the bed more than is absolutely necessary, and cover up all foot-tracks as much as possible.
It is a good plan to smear the trap with assafoetida or melted beeswax, with a few drops of the oil of rhodium. These are all good and may be employed for the purpose of deceiving a particularly cunning fellow after all other stratagems fail. Another good plan is to bait the bed several times before setting the trap, until the fox begins to think that this is the best place it ever knew to find a choice morsel ready at all hours. When a proper degree of confidence appears to have been established then put the trap in its place and catch him--if you can.
First take a No. 3 Blake & Lamb trap, and look around over the fields or woods and find where the sand has washed down and is fine as wood ashes, says F. A. Aurand, of Michigan. You will always find if you keep close watch over the fields that a fox likes to get on the fine sand and play or walk over and around on it for some reason, as you will always find their tracks on the sand in the fall and spring. Now take for bait any of the following: dead chicken, or turkey, or beef's hind leg, but I think the best is beef's old head. Now take the old head, dig down in the sand and set the head down in the sand so that the jaws and nose are out of the sand about to the eyes. Now take your traps, about three No. 3 B. & L. traps, take a stake and fasten the rings to the stake, and drive the stake below the surface of the sand and cover it over the top.
Now dig a small trench for the chains, lay the chains in the trenches, a trench for each chain. Spread the traps each way from the old head, and set the trap out away from the head as far as the chains will let them go, by driving the stake right close to the head. Then dig a small place in the sand so the trap will set just level with the surface of the sand, for each trap to set in. Take a small piece of cotton batton and put enough under each pan of the traps to keep the sand from getting under pans so they won't spring. Now take the sand that you took out of the places for the traps and cover them all over, traps, chains and all. Then take a small bush and brush out all your tracks and over the traps. If you have done your work well you can hardly tell where the traps are. You can use some good scent on the sand or on the old head, but I don't think it needs it. Fix the old head in the sand quite a little while before you want to trap. All I ever caught I caught in this way. If you do everything right I am sure of your success.
I have visited hundreds of trappers in Maine and Canada, and have learned many of the secrets of successful trapping from them and also from my own personal experience and observation, writes N. C. Burbank. I have come to the conclusion that the basis of all the most successful secret decoys for catching fox is the substance taken from the glands of the female fox during the running season, mixed with grease of some sort, together with contents of the glands of the skunk, preferably the female taken in the spring or latter part of the winter. I do not pretend to say that every one will be successful who uses that decoy. I am of the opinion, if directions are closely followed in the following method of water trapping for fox, you are reasonably sure to catch them if you use that decoy.
During the month of August or September select some spring or place about a foot and a half from the edge, or in the center of a circular spring that is not over 4 feet wide, a sod 8 or 10 inches across, and arrange a place to set the trap a few inches from the outside. This must be done early in the season, so all evidence of human work and scent will be removed before trapping time.
When the season arrives you are ready to set your trap, and you do so in the following manner: In selecting springs you must find one that has an outlet so you can walk in the water for a distance of three rods, six or eight is better. Set your trap and take it up to the spring or place selected, walking in the water and using the greatest care not to touch bushes or anything to leave the scent of yourself. Place the trap in the place prepared in the early season, being sure it is covered over entirely, chain and all, by water. Then cover with dead leaves or whatever is on the bottom of the spring. Place upon the trap pan a small sod as light a one as possible, allowing it to be out of the water at least one inch so that the fox in reaching for the bait will step on the sod, which should be six or eight inches from the shore. Fox, like the human being, do not like to wet their feet.
Now you have the trap set and then comes the baiting. Take a small piece of meat and place it on the larger sod, using great care not to leave human scent, take a few drops of this decoy and place on the bait. Also take a rotten stick and break off a piece 6 or 8 inches long, being careful of handling, and place two or three drops on the end and stick it into the sod so it will stick up two inches or such a matter above it. Your trap is now ready for Reynard, and if you use great care in setting and in visiting your traps I am certain of your success.
There are many methods of catching foxes and I am acquainted with them, not all, perhaps, as each man has a little different way, but I am satisfied the above for a water set it correct.
Here in the East where I am trapping near the mountains, if we could not catch fox on the snow path we would not get any prime fur, says J. H. Shufelt, of Canada.
I will give one of my snow sets that I use here for fox. It may not fit your case as every locality calls for its own method, and foxes are slyer in some places than others. I use a No. 3 Blake & Lamb trap with a three foot chain and grapple. How to fix the trap? I take a large kettle and fill with water and put my traps in and get the water boiling hot. For every dozen of traps I put in one-half pint of lime not air slacked, and boil for ten minutes. Now take out your traps, which will be odorless and white as snow, and use gloves in handling and setting them.
When you get ready to set your traps go out in a large field where foxes are traveling, make a good path across the field by traveling back and forth. Where you want to make a set leave a little partition across the path to guide the fox in the trap, which is covered with white paper and a little snow. Be careful in setting and not leave tracks outside of the path nor lay any sticks across. When going to your traps walk in the path, which makes it better, and don't let too much snow get over them. Be careful and you will get your fox.
Do foxes eat skunk? I might say in answer to this question they do, and they will kill skunk if found outside of their dens. And if a fox is run in a den where there is a skunk, their odor is most always sure to prove fatal to a fox in a very short time. Several instances of this kind have happened in this locality where I am hunting and trapping.
Foxes are very fond of skunk for food, and the musk makes a good scent for trapping foxes. A good scent for cold weather, for it never freezes. No doubt a good trapper will say, give me fresh bait. I might say give me a strong smelling bait, for when the fox is smelling a strong bait or scent he cannot smell anything else at the same time.
Now for instance, if you were going out for a fox hunt, and your hound got scented by skunk, it would spoil his scenting anything, and he could not follow the trail. Several experiences have led me to think this is one reason why we make a better catch on a damp or rainy night. The bait smells so much stronger that it takes up more of the game's sense of smell and makes our chance of a catch better. The old trapper will oftimes make this remark, "Boys, I am going to make a big catch tonight--why, because it is going to be a damp and rainy night." Who knows why?
I trap foxes by land and water set. I sometimes use a set called the all around land set. Every locality calls for its own method. I use two kinds of traps, Blake & Lamb and Newhouse. They are both all right. My trapping grounds are near the mountains where the foxes defy fox hounds, for they have dens in the rocks.
The Hunter-Trader-Trapper, Columbus, Ohio, is in touch with fox trappers, hunters and owners of hounds from all parts of America, so that interesting articles are constantly being received and published.
The following, by W. J. Taylor, of New York, is his method for trapping the red fox: Choose a rotten stump near their runways, cut out a cavity in the top of the stump deep enough to set trap and allow one-half inch of finely pulverized rotten wood to cover trap, spring and chain. Do not handle pulverized wood with your hands. Have your traps thoroughly greased, chain and all, then smoke with hemlock, spruce, cedar or pine boughs. Smoke until trap and chain are black. This is to stop the smell of steel. Sometimes I use a moss covered stump, that is a stump with moss growing all or partly around its sides. Cut the cavity the same in stump, cover lightly with pulverized rotten wood.
Now go to another moss covered stump, cut moss enough to cover top of stump, cut a circular piece out a little smaller than jaws of trap, place this right on top of trap, then place the rest on top of stump, trim outsides to match outside of stump. Handle moss with sharpened stick and knife, never with bare hands unless set is made one week before baiting and scenting. I generally make my sets two weeks before placing bait and scent.
Place bait about six or eight feet from stump, always on lower hillside. Daub your fox scent on top of stump, side towards your bait. For bait I use muskrat carcasses, skunk, dead hens, rabbits, fish or partly decomposed meat. My receipt for fox scent is fish oil one-half pint (made by placing fish in glass can in summer and hanging in sun until decomposed) the musk sacks of ten or more muskrats, one or more fox matrix which are obtained from the female fox, also fat from the inside of either sex is good. Mix all together. It will surely draw the fox.
A good fox year can be counted upon with reasonable certainty once every five years, says Martin Hunter, on the Labrador coast, at least so say the oldest residents. The year before they begin to come down from the interior, then the climax for great numbers. Then the following year they decrease in numbers to what they were two years before, and the winter following so few that one or two about in miles of coast is a rarity.
Such was the case in the winter of 71; 69 had been a great fox year. What was not trapped in the winter of 70 had migrated back to the remote interior. Between the posts of Scum Islands and Moisie, a distance of twenty-one miles of coast, there was only known to be one fox--a red one--with a claw missing on his right paw, and he was as cunning an old fellow as ever bothered a trapper. For a night or two he would play all kinds of tricks down about Moisie, and then we would hear of him around Seven Islands. There being no kind of hunting, the people got anxious as to who would succeed in catching the old rascal.
Bait would be sprinkled about at certain places, and no traps. Big tail would come around and eat every scrap; this would be done for two or three nights in succession, and then the hunter would think the fox's fears were allayed, and carefully put two or three traps and the bait as usual. Next morning the bait would be gone, as before, but he would find his traps turned up side down.
The fox we will say would pass and repass at a certain up-turned root or a point of trees, then the hunter would think a trap in his beaten track would surely nip him. Not so, however. The trap would be nicely concealed, but old Reynard would deflex his road to suit the circumstances. Smoking, greasing, or all the usual modes of taking the smell from the iron traps were of no avail; when a trap was set where his supper was spread, that old fox would begin by digging a trench from a distance off in a straight line for the hidden traps, the closer he got to the danger the slower and more cautiously he would work. This we could see plainly next morning by standing outside his works and reading his signs.
There were better and older trappers in the field after this old stayer's life, but it was given to me to circumvent his maneuvers and possess his fur. I had reset my traps near the bait two nights in succession in the exact place where he had turned them over, and of course he burrowed along his old trench to get at them. This I carefully noted and set another trap in the trench on edge. Something told me I was going to be successful, and I hardly slept that night. I was on my snowshoes and off at the first grey of the February morning. Before I got to the point where my traps were set I saw his fresh tracks leading off in the same direction I was going. My heart beat with expectation and anticipation as I hurried forward; it was not for the value of the beast, but to have it to say I had killed the cunning fox of 1871 where all the old hunters had failed.
Yes there he was sure enough, as I turned the last point; I could hardly credit my good fortune, and was so afraid that he would even now escape that I walked right on top of him with my snowshoes. He was pinned down tight with my weight and was powerless to even wriggle. I slipped my left hand under the snowshoe and with my other hand pulled down his heart; a quiver or two and that fox was a good fox.
Indians never strike or shoot either foxes, mink or marten when they find them alive in the traps, as it causes the blood to collect and congeal where the blow was given, and spoils the looks of the skin, besides the annoyance of the blood when skinning. They hold the animal by the neck and with the other hand pull down the heart until the heart-strings break, and death is as sudden as if the spine were severed.
The fox, although the cleverest animal sought after by New England hunters and trappers, says L. W. Beardsley, of Connecticut, seems to have one decided drawback, that of sight, which frequently costs him his life. Sly and clever with very acute nose and ear, he appears to be unable to tell a man from a tree or stone by sight alone, provided the person remains motionless, but the slightest motion is detected and sends him dusting for cover. The above I have proved to my entire satisfaction time and again when hunting this animal, a few instances of which I will quote below.
While walking along the tracks of the Berkshire Division R. R., which were bounded on the west by a steep hill with a fence three boards high, placed horizontally about eight inches apart skirting the track, I noticed beneath the lower board the legs of a fox moving toward me some seventy-five yards away. I stopped between the rails, half raising my 38-40 Stevens, telescope mounted, and waited for a favorable shot. When some thirty yards away the fox crawled under the fence and trotted down the bank immediately in front of me, where I stood in plain view. He stopped in the middle of the track and looked towards me unconcernedly for several seconds, then swung his head down the tracks in the direction of a train which was rapidly approaching from the south. This was my chance. I brought the cross hairs to bear just back of his foreleg and pulled. With one mighty bound in the air he fell back across the rails without a struggle, and I had to do some hustling to pull him out of the way before the train was upon us.
Again I was sitting on a stone, my back against a wall in an open pasture lot waiting in hopes a fox might use the runway which passed close by. I had been waiting quietly since 4 A. M. It was now 6:30, and I had nearly given up hopes of seeing a fox that morning and was getting perhaps rather careless about watching, when something rustled in the grass, and raising my eyes without moving my head, I saw a red fox in the act of passing in front of me not more than ten or fifteen feet away in the open lot.
I remained motionless until he was well past, then raising my gun slowly and carefully I fired at the back of his head as he was trotting leisurely away, all unconscious of my presence, and perhaps only saw twenty-five yards off. The fox never knew what had killed him, and I often wonder if that load of shot surprised him more than his sudden appearance surprised me, as I sat dozing on the rock. I used on this occasion a 10 ga. full choke Winchester, level action repeater Model 1901, loaded with 4 1/2 drs. black powder and 1 1/4 oz. B. shot.
Late one afternoon several years ago while out hunting grey squirrel at Swamp Mortar Rock with Wm. E. Howes I, who was hunting about 200 yards south of "Bill," heard a fox barking just over a rise of ground, and cautiously approaching saw two foxes digging at the roots of a decayed stump. Just as I was getting within effective gun shot range I stepped on a twig which snapped with my weight. The sound started the animals. Neither saw me, however, as I had remained perfectly motionless. The moment the twig broke one took a course due east, the other quartered toward me disappearing in the thick laurels. There was a small opening in these bushes opposite me, and with cocked gun trained on this spot I waited the appearance of the fox.
In a moment he was in the clearing, and as he was stepping over a log about 30 yards away I gave him my right barrel and tumbled him over, and as he endeavored to get up I put on the finishing touches with my left. I was using a Baker full choke 28 in. 12 ga. loaded with 3 1/4 drs. black powder with 1 1/8 oz. No. 7 shot.
While looking for woodchuck signs early one spring on my way to pasture, I was following a old logging road when I saw a fox crossing in front of me and disappear in the ferns, going toward a high ledge west of the road. I stood still and waited. When the fox reached the lower part of the ledge he stopped about 75 or 80 yards from me and sat down. When his head was turned away I would sneak cautiously a few feet nearer, always standing motionless when he looked my way, and thus reduced the distance between us to about 50 yards.
At this point just as I was about to shoot the fox, who was partially concealed with leaves and ferns, moved some 10 yards up the ledge and was getting uneasy, although he had not seen me, and the wind was unfavorable for closer approach. I waited and he climbed nearly to the top of the ledge and laid down on a flat rock in the sun. With the utmost caution I slowly crawled back to the road and approached his foxship from the west, keeping some large rocks between us until I had approached within 35 yards. He was sitting up, breast toward me as I cautiously peeped over a rock, but his head was turned away, so I stepped out into plain view, leveling my gun as I did so. Slowly the fox turned his head and faced me, but he appeared to see nothing unusual in the silent figure clad in the worn gray hunting coat, brown overalls and soft brown hat.
I could see him twitch his ears and blink his eyes lazily in the glare of the setting sun. Fully a minute I stood admiring the picture. It seemed a pity to kill this clever fellow I had so easily outwitted. My eye dropped a little lower, the brass bead trembled on his breast, and through the faint haze of smokeless powder I saw the old quail thief kicking and struggling in the edge of the ledge. A moment later he toppled over his carcass, bounding from rock to rock in its 50 foot descent. I was using a 12 ga. full choke 30 in. Stevens, smokeless and B shot.
Another time I was sitting in the woods for grey squirrel early in October. It was about 5:30 A. M. and just getting light. I heard the tread of an animal behind me and the rustle of leaves, which ceased a few feet away. By rolling my eyes and slightly moving my head I could see the outlines of a fox standing behind me, hardly ten feet away. Cautiously I attempted to move the muzzle of my gun in his direction, but he detected me immediately and disappeared midst the laurels like a flash.
Although he had stood two or three minutes within a few feet of me before I attempted to turn evidently trying to figure out what I was, not until I had made a movement did he realize he was so near his old enemy, "man," which goes to show that Mr. Fox, with every other sense alert, is like many other of his wild brethren, unable to tell man from an inanimate by mere sight alone, when he remains motionless.
Several years ago, when foxes were more numerous here than they are now, the writer, R. B., of Canada, in company with two other hunters, went on a fox hunting expedition. We had two dogs which had not been trained but would follow a trail pretty well. We had to travel over newly-made ice a distance of three miles to a small island about a mile long and quite narrow, on which were three small groves of fir trees which was the only cover for game, the surface of the island being chiefly meadow and marsh land. We landed on the eastern end of the island, and within a short time after the hunt began one of the party shot a fox, and in the afternoon the writer got a chance at a shot and succeeded in knocking over a very fine red fox. As night was now near we started for home, intending to return next day and renew the hunt, as we knew there was yet another fox on the island. Next day, however, was stormy, and we postponed the hunt till the following day, which being fine gave us a good chance for our work.
The same party of hunters and dogs renewed the chase early in the morning but the fox seemed to have learned a lesson from the previous hunt, and all day long he was chased from grove to grove by the dogs without giving a chance of a shot at him. As night was fast approaching we began to fear our hunt was going to be unsuccessful when we discovered that the fox had changed his tactics, and instead of taking shelter in the groves had run clear out to one end of the island, which was very narrow, and as we thought would take to the ice and thus get away from us. However, we followed after him, and you may imagine our surprise when the fox, instead of going on the ice, suddenly turned around and came directly toward us, and when about one hundred yards distant suddenly disappeared as if the earth had swallowed him up; one of the party who knew there was an old uncovered well there shouted out, "the fox is in the well!" We all hastened to the spot, and sure enough there was Mr. Fox in the well clinging to some sticks floating in the water about eight feet below the surface of the ground. As we had no rope or any facilities for getting reynard out of the well alive, we had to take a mean and unsportsmanlike advantage of our prisoner by putting a small charge of shot into his head and then fishing him out of the water with a forked stick. That the fox could never have gotten out of the well by his own exertions I do not believe, but that he went into it to escape from us is certain.
Many have requested me to give my method of still-hunting the red fox. As my hair is turning gray and the red foxes are about all gone here I will give an outline of my method, and will try and not weary the reader with a long account, thus writes G. O. Green, of Illinois.
Winter is the best time for hunting the red fox, and I have been more successful in January and February than other months. There are always some localities where the red fox spends the day, curled up asleep, and it is generally in a hilly locality as far as he can get from the presence of man.
The still hunter has only to go to these places on fair days and hunt as far as possible against the wind. If the wind is blowing some so much the better--it will help to deaden the sound of the hunter's tread. When you get into likely ground walk slow, and be sure you observe every object on the ground, both in front and in fact at least three sides. The average still hunter hunts too fast and don't use his eyes in the right direction--if he is a bird hunter he will be looking up in the trees too much.
A red fox is a small animal, and the hunter must keep his eyes always on the ground while hunting the old Red. If snow is on the ground and the hunter jumps a fox without getting a shot, the hunter, if he is a novice, will be pretty sure to go on the run after the fox when he comes to the place where the fox has just jumped. When you find the fox has been jumped sit right down and eat your lunch, and wait twenty minutes or a half hour. The fox will run perhaps 80 rods then get on a log or stump and watch his back track, and if he does not see any one following him he will not go far before he will look for another place to lie down.
When you come to a place where the fox makes zigzag trail, stop and look very close in every direction for at least one hundred yards. The fox rarely makes a straight trail when he is going to lie down; in this he resembles the deer. The fox sleeps most soundly between 11 o'clock and 2 o'clock in the daytime, and I have killed most of mine during that time. A fox jumped after 3 o'clock in the afternoon will hardly lie down again that day. A double-barrel shotgun loaded with No. 4 shot will stop any fox up to about 50 yards; above that distance coarser shot usually straddle the fox. When the day is cold and snow is crusty, stay at home, for you will get no fox but plenty of exercise.
When a fox goes into the ground while you are trailing him, don't try to dig him out; it is hard work. On three occasions I have got his brush by going to the burrow about sundown and getting a good position near the burrow to wait for him to come out. I have never been disappointed in getting a shot about the time that you can see half a dozen stars twinkling. But it takes good eyes to see a fox in twilight.
Now reader, these are not all the points of still hunting. It takes a peculiar cuss for a still hunter, and still hunters are born that way; all the education in the world will not make a still hunter.
It is estimated that at present nearly 50 of the Aleutian Islands have fox ranches, most of which are said to have been successfully managed. Thus far the Government has rented the islands for this purpose at $100 per year. Some years ago the revenue cutter Perry was sent to the Archipelago by the Treasury Department for the express purpose of ascertaining the location of the islands used for fox ranches. The Government's agents were not long in finding out that in several instances the fox raisers had appropriated islands for which they were paying no rental. These persons were brought up with a sharp turn and ordered to pay up or shut up shop.
It seems quite clear that where proper business methods have been followed the ranches, without exception, have succeeded thus far, and will prove immensely valuable in the future. On some of the islands the work has been going on for 12 or 15 years, and three of them now have a fox population of more than 1,000 each. The first method was to begin operations by turning loose on an island several pairs of foxes. In some instances the animals have increased rapidly, with the result that in a year or so it had become apparent that $150 or $200 paid for a pair of mated animals was likely to prove a good investment.
The original project was to breed the silver gray fox, as the fur of this animal is much more valuable than that of the commoner varieties. A good silver gray pelt is worth about $50 to the original seller, while $15 or thereabout is the price for the pelt of the blue fox. But the silver gray has many peculiarities which make its domestication exceedingly difficult, practically impossible, in fact. It is much given to devouring its young, and it has many of the characteristics of the wolf. At present only one of the islands is given up to the silver grays, and the animals do not increase rapidly.
The blue fox, so called, is handled much more successfully. It is readily tamed, and if kindly treated soon becomes so domestic that it will take food from the keeper's hand. The food usually is fish, either cooked or raw, and a mixture of corn meal and tallow. Reynard gets these rations, and all he wants of them, for ten months in the year, the food being supplied steadily except during the two midsummer months. It is estimated that the average cost of the rations is $1.50 per fox per year. There are two or three keepers for each ranch who devote all their time the year around to their charges.
From November 20 to January 20 is the open season for foxes on the islands, and box traps, rather than dead falls or steel traps, are used. This is done because all the female animals are released, after having been marked, and also one male for every six of the opposite sex. The average age for killing is about 18 months, although the pelt of an animal eight months old is fully developed, and, despite some theories to the contrary, the fur does not necessarily improve with age. On some of the larger farms, the box trap method of catching the foxes has been given up, as being too slow, for baiting the animals near a small corral.
During the months preceding the killing time, the food for the foxes is placed near the site of this corral, in order to accustom the animals to coming to that locality, and also in order to tame them. Under this treatment the foxes lose their shyness and shrewdness to such an extent that they not only enter the corral freely, but the female or male which has once been released after having been examined and marked, frequently enters the corral again. It is reported that in some instances the same animal has been caught three or four times in the same night.
In sections the larger game is gone yet there is in parts of the North, West and South much good trapping territory that will pay the hardy trappers for years to come. Even in the more thickly settled districts trapping can be made a good paying business. It seems that red fox, skunk and muskrat remain about as numerous in most sections as ever. In fact, the red fox in certain sections has only made its appearance of late years--since the country has become more thickly settled. Trappers in most sections can rest assured that they will have game to trap for years to come.
In the rapid development of the country the steel trap has played a wonderful part. They have subdued the monster bear and have as well caught millions of the small fur bearing animals, adding largely to the annual income of the hardy trapper. Steel traps have been in use for more than fifty years, but for many years after they were invented they were so expensive that they were not generally used. Of late years they have become cheaper and their use has become general. In fact, the price is now so reasonable that the trapper, on his first expedition, has a supply. The professional trapper, who in the North, spends from seven to nine months in the woods has a supply of these traps, ranging from the smallest to the largest. His needs are such too that all of them are in use during the trapping season. A trapper can use from 50 to 250 traps.
Traps are made in various sizes. The smallest No. 0 is used for gophers, rats, etc., while the largest, No. 6, is for the grizzly bear and will hold him. The No. 2 is known as the fox trap having two springs and spread of jaws of 4 7/8 inches. The No. 1 1/2 single spring is also much used by fox trappers. The No. 1 will also hold the fox, but we think best to use the No. 1 1/2 or No. 2.
We are alluding to the Newhouse manufactured by the Oneida Community, Ltd., Oneida, N. Y., as it is acknowledged to be the best trap in the world.
As most fox trappers devote more or less time to trapping other fur bearing animals, a description of the various Newhouse traps, telling the animal or animals each size is adapted to, etc., will no doubt be of Interest.
Spread of Jaws, 3 1/2 inches. This, the smallest trap made, is used mostly for catching the gopher, a little animal which is very troublesome to western farmers, and also rats and other vermin. It has a sharp grip and will hold larger game, but should not be overtaxed.
Spread of Jaws, 4 inches. This Trap is used for catching muskrats and other small animals, and sold in greater numbers than any other size. Its use is well understood by professional trappers and it is the most serviceable size for catching skunks, weasels, rats and such other animals as visit poultry houses and barns.
Spread of Jaws, 4 inches. Occasionally animals free themselves from traps by gnawing their legs off just below the trap jaws, where the flesh is numb from pressure. Various forms of traps have been experimented with to obviate this difficulty. The Webbed Jaws shown above have proved very successful in this respect.
Noting the cross-section of the jaws, as illustrated at the left, it is plain the animal can only gnaw off its leg at a point quite a distance below the meeting edges. The flesh above the point of amputation and below the jaws will swell and make it impossible to pull the leg stump out of the trap.
The No. 81 Trap corresponds in size with the regular No. 1 Newhouse.
Spread of Jaws--#91, 5 1/4 inches; #91 1/2, 6 1/4 inches. The double jaws take an easy and firm grip so high up on the muskrat that he can not twist out. A skunk cannot gnaw out either.
These traps are especially good for Muskrat, Mink, Skunk and Raccoon.
All parts of the No. 91 except the jaws are the same size as the regular No. 1 Newhouse, while the 91 1/2 corresponds to the regular No. 1 1/2.
Spread of Jaws, 4 7/8 inches. This size is called the Mink Trap. It is, however, suitable for catching the Woodchuck, Skunk, etc. Professional trappers often use it for catching Foxes. It is very convenient in form and is strong and reliable.
Spread of Jaws, 4 7/8 inches. The No. 2 Trap is called the Fox Trap. Its spread of jaws is the same as the No. 1 1/2 but having two springs it is, of course, much stronger.
Spread of Jaws, 5 1/2 inches. This, the Otter Trap, is very powerful. It will hold almost any game smaller than a bear.
Spread of Jaws, 6 1/2 inches. This is the regular form of Beaver Trap. It is longer than the No. 3 Trap, and has one inch greater spread of jaws. It is a favorite with those who trap and hunt for a living in the Northwest and Canada. It is also extensively used for trapping the smaller Wolves and Coyotes in the western stock raising regions.
Spread of Jaws, 6 1/2 inches. In some localities the Otter grows to an unusual size, with great proportionate strength, so that the manufacturers have been led to produce an especially large and strong pattern. All the parts are heavier than the No. 2 1/2, the spread of jaws greater and the spring stiffer.
Spread of Jaws, 5 inches. The above cut represents a Single Spring Otter Trap. It is used more especially for catching Otter on their "slides." For this purpose a thin, raised plate of steel is adjusted to the pan so that when the trap is set the plate will be a trifle higher than the teeth on the jaws. The spring is very powerful, being the same as used on the No. 4 Newhouse Trap. The raised plate can be readily detached if desired, making the trap one of general utility.
Single Spring. Same as No. 2 1/2 but without Teeth or Raised Plate.
Single Spring. Same as No. 3 1/2 but without Teeth or Raised Plate.
Spread of Jaws--No. 21 1/2, 5 1/4 inches; No. 31 1/2, 6 1/2 inches. These Traps are the largest smooth jaw, single spring sizes that are made. Professional trappers will find these especially valuable when on a long trapping line, as they are more compact and easier to secrete than the large double spring traps. The springs are made extra heavy.
Note.--The 21 1/2 is practically a single spring No. 3 and the 31 1/2 a single spring No. 4.