TRAPPING.
To be a successful trapper required great caution, as well as a perfect
knowledge of the habits of the animals. The residence of the beaver was
often discovered by seeing bits of green wood and gnawed branches of the
basswood, slippery elm, and sycamore, their favorite food, floating on
the water or lodged on the shores of the stream below, as well as by
their tracks or foot-marks.
These indications were technically called "beaver signs." They were also
sometimes discovered by their dams thrown across creeks and small,
sluggish streams, forming a pond in which were erected their
habitations.
The hunter, as he proceeded to set his traps, generally approached by
water, in his canoe. He selected a steep, abrupt spot in the bank of the
creek, in which he excavated a hole with his paddle, as he sat in the
canoe, sufficiently large to hold the trap, and so deep as to be about
three inches below the surface of the water, when the jaws of the trap
were expanded. About two feet above the trap, a stick, three or four
inches in length, was stuck in the bank. In the upper end of this stick
the trapper cut a small hole with his knife, into which he dropped a
small quantity of the essence of perfume, which was used to attract the
beaver to the spot. This stick was fastened by a string of horse-hair to
the trap, and with it was pulled into the water by the beaver. The
reason for this was that it might not remain after the trap was sprung,
and attract other beavers to the spot, and thus prevent their seeking
other traps ready for them.
This scent, or essence, was made by mingling the fresh castor of the
beaver with an extract of the bark of the roots of the spice-bush, and
then kept in a bottle for use. The making of this essence was kept a
profound secret, and often sold for a considerable sum to the younger
trappers by the older proficients in the mysteries of beaver-hunting.
Where trappers had no proper bait, they sometimes made use of the fresh
roots of the sassafras or spice-bush, of both of which the beaver was
very fond.
It is said by old trappers that the beaver will smell the well-prepared
essence the distance of a mile, their sense of smell being very acute,
or they would not so readily detect the vicinity of man by the scent of
his trail. The aroma of the essence, having attracted the beaver to the
vicinity of the trap, in his attempt to reach it he has to climb up on
the bank where it is sticking. This effort leads him directly over the
trap, and he is usually caught by one of his fore legs.
The trap was connected by an iron chain, six feet in length, to a stout
line made of the bark of the leather wood, twisted into a neat cord
fifteen or twenty feet in length. These cords were usually prepared by
the trappers at home, or at their camps, for cords of hemp or flax were
scarce in the days of beaver-hunting. The end of the line was secured to
a stake driven into the bed of the creek under water, and in the
beaver's struggles to escape he was usually drowned before the arrival
of the trapper. Sometimes, however, he freed himself by gnawing off his
own leg, though this rarely happened.
When setting the trap, if it was raining, or there was a prospect of
rain, a leaf, generally of sycamore, was placed over the essence stick
to protect it from the rain.
The beaver was a very sagacious and cautious animal, and it required
great care in the trapper in his approach to his haunts to set his
traps, that no scent of his hands or feet should be left on the earth or
bushes that he touched. For this reason the trapper generally approached
in a canoe. If he had no canoe it was necessary to enter the stream
thirty or forty yards below where he wished to set his trap, and walk up
the stream to the place, taking care to return in the same manner, lest
the beaver should take alarm and not come near the bait, as his fear of
the vicinity of man was greater than his appetite for the essence.
Caution was also required in kindling a fire near the haunts of the
beaver, as the smell of smoke alarmed them. The firing of a gun, also,
often marred the sport of the trapper.
Thus it will be seen that, to make a successful beaver hunter, required
more qualities or natural gifts than fall to the share of most men.