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.
[Illustration: PROFITABLE DAY'S CATCH.]
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.
[Illustration: SNOWSHOEING OVER THE TRAPPING LINE.]
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.
[Illustration: ONCE OVER THE LINE--WHITE WEASEL.]
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.
[Illustration: CAUGHT JUST BEFORE A COLD SNAP.]
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.