SCENTS AND BAITS.
Scents for attracting animals to traps have been employed for many
years, but trappers differ greatly in their views regarding its
value. Some use scent only, to attract the animals, and make good
catches; others use bait alone and condemn anything in the line of
scent. Some use neither scent nor bait but depend entirely on "blind
sets".
The value of scent for trapping wolves and coyotes depends on the
kind that is used and the method employed, the time of year, the sex
of the animal, whether trapping is prosecuted extensively, etc. We
have no doubt that if the right scent is employed and used in the
proper way that it will be productive of good results. In all
probability those who are so ready to condemn scents have never used
the right kind, or having tried the proper kind, have not used it in
the right way.
If one will stop to consider just what scent is, and the object in
using it, he must readily perceive its value, if the right kind is
used. Scents are of various kinds and are expected to appeal to the
animal in different ways. When one uses bait, it is the odor of same
that attracts the animal from a distance,--why then will not a scent
which suggests their favorite food also prove attractive? All animals
of the dog family are very susceptible to food odors and the same
scents will attract both the wolf and coyote. Then there are other
scents which appeal to the animal's passions. These will be described
in the following pages. They are especially attractive to the wolf
during the mating season, but are also good at other times, and
should be used without bait.
The habit of depositing urine on the same spot used by another for
that purpose is characteristic of all animals of the dog family. This
is sometimes taken advantage of by the trapper, and the wolf urine is
used in that way.
In some parts of the country it is probable that one would be more
successful by using bait alone; in other places blind sets would be
better. For many localities it is best to use a good scent, and
especially so at certain seasons. For trapping grey wolves in summer,
it is especially valuable as at that time meat baits soon become
tainted and are not attractive to the animals.
The United States Biological Survey have made exhaustive tests with
scents and the result is given in the following:
"Success in trapping depends mainly on the use of scents that will
attract the wolves to the neighborhood of a trap and keep them
tramping and pawing until caught. Meat bait alone is of little use,
for as a rule the wolves kill an ample supply for themselves. Many
tests of scents, both prepared baits and various animal musks, have
been made with wolves in the field and in the National Zoological
Park. While some have given a fair degree of success, others have
proved worthless, and no one odor has proved entirely satisfactory.
Experiments are being continued, however, and new odors tried."
"Beaver musk (castoreum) and the commercial perfumery sold as musk
have proved effective in many cases by causing the wolf to turn aside
to follow the scented cross line and so walk into the trap. Siberian
musk (from the Siberian musk deer ) is very attractive to wolves in
the Zoo. Oil of anise and oil of rhodium seem to have no attraction
for wild wolves, and are scarcely noticed by those in confinement.
Assafoetida is mildly attractive to wolves and coyotes at the Zoo,
but used alone is very slightly, if at all, attractive to those on
the range."
"Wolf urine taken from the bladder is used by some trappers, and is
said to be very successful. It is bottled and kept until rancid and
then sprinkled over the trap. The sexual organs of the female wolf
immersed in the urine are said to add efficacy to this bait. The
urine of the female in the rutting season is said to be especially
attractive to males; it should be used in January or February."
"Fetid bait.--The bait that has proved most effective may be called,
for lack of a better name, fetid bait, because of its offensive odor.
It has been long in use in variously modified forms by the most
successful wolf trappers, and its preparation is usually guarded as a
profound secret. It cannot be credited to any one trapper, since no
two prepare it in just the same way, but in most cases its
fundamental odors are the same. It may be prepared as follows:
"Place half a pound of raw beef or venison in a wide-mouthed bottle
and let it stand in a warm place (but never in the sun) from two to
six weeks or longer or until it is thoroughly decayed and the odor
has become as offensive as possible. If the weather is not very warm
this may require several months. When decomposition has reached the
proper stage, add a quart of sperm oil or some liquid animal oil.
Lard oil may be used, but prairie dog oil is better. Add half an
ounce of assafoetida, dissolved in alcohol and one ounce of tincture
of Siberian musk, or, if this cannot be procured, one ounce of
pulverized beaver castor or one ounce of the common musk sold for
perfumery. Mix thoroughly and bottle securely until used."
The government has introduced this scent into Northern Michigan where
it has been used successfully. Other very similar decoys are used
extensively by Western trappers.
A scent which is highly recommended, and is used successfully by some
Wyoming wolf and coyote trappers is made by chopping fine, equal
portions of raw beef and fish and allowing same to decay in a covered
vessel. After it is thoroughly decomposed, add an ounce of
assafoetida dissolved in alcohol to each pound of the decoy. Animal
matter of any kind should never be allowed to decay in a tightly
closed vessel, as the gases may cause it to burst, but it must be
covered so as to exclude the flies. The above scent is claimed to be
very attractive to both wolves and coyotes and we know that the
trappers who used it made large catches, one of them having captured
over 200 coyotes in a single season. This trapper states that if the
perfume of the skunk is added to the decoy, its attractive properties
are greatly increased. This scent may be used in connection with
bait, or without, as preferred.
One of the northern trappers recommends a scent made by chopping
fine, equal parts of rabbit, skunk and muskrat flesh, with a couple
of wild mice added, and allow to decay in a jar. The jar should be
about 2/3 full and after it is decomposed a half ounce oil of anise
and a quantity of skunk scent is added, and the jar filled with goose
oil. This is the recipe as given but we can not guarantee it to be
attractive.
Many of the old time trappers claim to have scents which will draw a
wolf or coyote a half mile, or more, to the trap. Those who make such
statements should always be regarded with distrust for the chances
are that they only wish to sell the scent or the formula. In nine
cases out of ten it will be found that the scents are worthless. One
of our old time friends wrote as follows:
"I have tried several so-called patent decoys with very indifferent
results. The only scent I care to use is the urine from a female wolf
or coyote killed in running season; sprinkle a drop or two on bush,
stone or ground near traps, but not on bait. After catching one
coyote at a setting I never trouble to bait again as the urine and
droppings will serve to attract other coyotes better than any bait.
Have caught 6 at one setting, 5 of them with no other bait than the
smell of the ground defiled by previous coyotes. They will come a
long way to scratch and urinate on same spot, and seem to lose some
of their caution."
Another successful trapper makes practically the same statements and
his views are appended.
"After catching one wolf or coyote do not use more bait as the scent
is strong enough to draw all that comes near. I do not use any patent
decoy or scents, as I consider them useless for any game. The only
scent I use is what I make myself and then only from February to
April. In the summer I gather up four or five bitch dogs and as fast
as they come in heat I kill them and take the organs of generation
and pickle them in wide mouth bottles with alcohol enough to cover. I
sprinkle a few drops on a stone or bush, stick in center between
traps but use no other bait. This is also good for fox.
"The above method is the same as I learned it from an old Hudson's
Bay trapper, Peirre Deverany, who was born in 1817, and had trapped
all thru the British possessions and the Rocky Mountains and with
whom I trapped for several years."
We find that many of the professional trappers condemn all scents
except those which they, themselves, use, but as there are a number
of successful ones using different scents it proves that there are
numbers of good decoys.
"I use scent a good deal, but make it myself," writes one man who
follows trapping continually. "The mating time is the best time to
use it and the matrix from a female wolf in alcohol is very good to
use. Put a few drops on a bone or stick of wood near the trap, say
ten or twenty inches from it. If you have two traps set near each
other, put the scent between them."
With regard to bait the grey wolf prefers horse flesh to beef. Colts
are also preferred to old horses. It is the same as regards cattle;
the calves and yearlings are invariably chosen. In the timbered
sections where there is very little stock for the wolves to prey on,
venison is perhaps the best bait. Antelope, jack rabbit, and in fact,
almost any kind of flesh is good if the wolf is hungry, but the bait
in all cases must be strictly fresh. Unless food is scarce, wolves
seldom return to the carcass of a victim, but they do so occasionally
and some are caught by setting traps in such places, especially in
the North, during winter when the animals are hungry. If possible
they prefer to kill their own game and it is that which makes the
trapping so difficult.
The same baits that are recommended for wolves are also good for
coyotes, but the coyote is not so particular regarding the condition
of its food and will eat tainted flesh, greedily. They are very fond
of mutton, prairie dogs, badgers and sage hens. As with the wolf,
horse flesh is a favorite food. One of the southwestern trappers
claims that they like fresh pork, in his section, better than any
other food.
It will be an easy matter in almost any part of the country to keep
the traps baited as the ranchmen and sheepmen are, as a rule, willing
to furnish animals for bait. As a general rule, we advise the use of
scent sets and blind sets in spring and summer and bait sets in fall
and winter.