MY FIRST FOX.
I presume that almost every boy trapper in North America has an
ardent wish to trap one of these cunning sharp witted animals, and I
remember I thought when a boy if I could only catch a fox in a trap
my reputation as a trapper would be made, says F. W. Howard, of
Wisconsin.
Boys, you must not be discouraged if, after following the methods you
hear, you fail to take a fox, for probably most of you have only
traps enough to make one set; any of us older trappers I think will
admit that it is rather a difficult feat to make one set and take a
fox in a reasonably short time. Most of the trappers who use these
sets have likely from a dozen to fifty traps out for fox at one time.
I have sometimes taken foxes in traps set for skunk, coon and mink,
so that one may say that with a large number of traps out, even
though not set with the care and precautions usually taken to catch a
fox, the large number of chances open enable one to take here and
there a blundering and unwary fellow. I trapped my first fox when
about twelve years old, by following a method given me by my
grandfather, who was, in his day, a famous New England fox hunter. He
was a very old man at that time, but when I expressed to him my
heart's desire, asking him how and where to set the trap (I had but
one suitable for fox) he told me to get my father to let me take the
oxen and plow, to make a couple of furrows in our back pasture.
Following his instructions I boiled the trap in weak lye and then
daubed it over with fresh cow manure. The back pasture spoken of was
a place where foxes traveled, and I presume that there was no week in
the year that at least two or three foxes did not cross there.
[Illustration: CAUGHT IN A NO 1.]
Now, this is a very important point, if you are making but one set
especially, be sure and find a location for the set near some den or
ledge where foxes live, or at some point where you know they are in
the habit of crossing. But to continue, under my aged instructor's
direction I plowed two furrows across the pasture in the form of an
X. "Now," said he, "any fox that comes along will get down and run in
the furrows. Set your traps where they cross, and I shouldn't wonder
if you found one up here some fine morning." I scooped out a shallow
hole of a size to hold the trap and clog, put a bunch of wool under
the pan so it would spring easily, and covered all slightly and
smoothly with dirt; Granddad then placed some lumps of dirt in such a
way that a fox would be apt to step over them into the trap, if
coming from any direction. He cautioned me in visiting the trap to
walk by it some distance away.
"How long do you think it will be before we catch a fox?", I asked.
"Maybe not for a week, and maybe not at all, but I tell you boy, if
you want to catch a fox you have got to stick to it." You can imagine
my delight the next morning on finding a fine red fox tangled up
among some huckleberry bushes near by, and you may be sure I thought
Granddad the greatest trapper in the world, and myself the next.
I caught two more foxes at the same set before snow came, and will
say that I have always found this method one of the surest, but of
course very few boys are situated so as to have pastures that foxes
cross, and which they can plow furrows in.
Foxes are generally suspicious of a dead bait; however, at a bait
which they have been in the habit of visiting, generally some
carcass, they are more easily caught than at a freshly placed bait or
carcass, and it is a good plan, if you try taking a fox in this way,
to put out the carcass or large baits long enough in advance for them
to get into the practice of coming to them; then place your traps, if
possible, just before a fall of snow, and you are almost certain of
catching one. The traps should always be set with care and treated as
already described, to cover the scent of iron, as a fox considers the
scent of man and iron a dangerous combination, and they undoubtedly
know about traps and fear them.
[Illustration: CAUGHT ON HIS OWN FARM.]
I like to use a live bait for fox and bobcats, and a rabbit is about
the best for this purpose, because they are easily secured. They form
the principal game of these animals and they are nearly always
looking for them. It is, I think, safe to say, that each grown fox or
bobcat kill two hundred each on an average every year. The sight or
hot scent of any game these animals are accustomed to hunt excites
them, and their faculties are at once concentrated on how to capture
and get on the outside of said game as soon as possible. Under such
conditions, they fall more easy prey to trappers' wiles. Select a
point where you know foxes hunt, or not far from some den or ledge
which they use. Find a hollow log or some tree that has a hollow butt
with an opening; in either case, plug the hollow securely so the
rabbit will have to stay up near the opening, put in some carrots, or
ears of corn, and cover the hole with woven wire, having about an
inch mesh, or some barb wire stapled across will sometimes answer;
they may in some cases be afraid of the wire, but I have had
excellent success with this method, and my opinion is that the sight
of live game makes them reckless (on one occasion I caught a fox in a
wooden box about eight inches square and three or four feet long,
having a wire door, hinged at the top and slanting in,--a
self-setter--the trap had a live rabbit inside and was set along a creek,
for the purpose of taking a mink alive and uninjured).
If this method is used as a snow set, brush out all tracks, and
whether on snow or bare ground, always make as few tracks and leave
as little sign as possible around your traps. When setting for any
shy animal, don't cover or handle trap or clog with bare hands. Use
gloves and a small wooden spade.