GOOD DENS.
Some trappers as soon as they have caught one animal remove their
trap thinking that there is no longer any use to leave it at that
den. While this may sometime hold good in case of large game, such as
bear, panther, etc., it does not with most animals; in fact, there
are certain dens where trappers each season take from two to five or
even more animals. In the case of the larger game even they seem to
scent your bait and two bears and occasionally more have been caught
at the same place within a few days.
The fact, as a rule, that you have caught one animal in a den, should
not cause you to remove your trap. The more animals caught at the
same den the better. There is a reason why certain dens are the
favorite homes of animals. It may be because they are dry and warm,
that there is a nice bed of leaves, etc. At any rate, trappers know
that certain dens are valuable--that each season there are animals
living there--it making no difference how many have been caught the
previous winter. At such dens it will pay to leave your traps all the
season, that is, if you have other traps that are catching game in
the vicinity. Of course it would not pay to leave one trap set if you
did not have others within a short distance. As a rule where there is
one good den of this kind there are others in the vicinity, so that
you do not want to remove from that certain section.
[Illustration: NEBRASKA TRAPPER'S ONE NIGHT CATCH.]
It often happens that two trappers trap during the season on the same
ground, one in the fall and the other later in the season. The second
one has often taken more game than the first in the same length of
time. Both were considered good trappers and of equal experience.
This only goes to show that you never know when all the game is
caught; in fact, it never is, for if such was the case there would be
nothing left to catch another season, yet when another season arrives
the game is apparently about as numerous as ever.
This shows that good dens should be looked up by trappers, if in new
trapping grounds to them, before the season opens. The best time to
look for signs is in the fall, yet many a good den has been
discovered by tracking animals in the snow to their burrow. These
extra good dens are usually located on high grounds, at least not in
swamps or very low land. It is true, however, that on low land and
along sinks and damp places there is good trapping early in the
season, but as a rule animals hunt higher and drier sections before
the extreme cold weather comes. This being true the best dens are
most always found on high and dry ground. Another proof of this is
the fact that when large numbers of skunk are dug out of a den it is
nearly always on high and dry land.
[Illustration: NIGHT'S CATCH BY COLORADO TRAPPER.]
That there are many excellent dens along rocky bluffs, sandy hill
sides, and other like places, the experienced trapper knows. He also
knows that along the low land in early fall is good trapping. Mink
and coon are, of course, to be caught along streams at all times. It
is not necessary to state even to the amateur if muskrat, beaver and
otter are what the trapper is after, that along streams is the only
place to make a success.
Days spent early in the season looking up dens where hairs, bones,
feathers, dung, etc., are to be seen, are days well spent, for many
times has a trapper set traps at dens where within a few hundred
yards were many better ones, but not being acquainted with the
locality, he overlooked these until a snow came. Then he tracked an
animal which led him to the dens, otherwise he perhaps would not have
discovered them at all. Keep your eye open at all times for good
dens. That a large number of animals were caught at a certain den
last winter is evidence that that certain den is just the kind of a
burrow they want.
It may be that you caught all the animals that lived there the winter
before, but others have been raised since. These on their wanders for
food have found the den and have found, like their relatives of the
winter before, that it was just what they wished, hence they, too,
have returned for the winter.
At any rate, a den that is good one season is worth more to the
professional trapper than one that has never before showed signs. Or
in other words, if he has only one trap left and discovers a new den
apparently as good as the one where the winter before he made such
good catches, you may rest assured that he will set his trap at the
old den. It is possible that not a single animal will be caught this
season at the den where such good catches were made last season, but
this is an exception rather than the rule.
Old trappers will tell you that they caught so many animals at this
den in a certain season, so many the next, etc. Perhaps more skunk
have been caught at one den in a single season than any other animal.
The catching of ten or twelve at a place is no uncommon occurrence in
a season. There are a few cases on record where trappers have caught
as high as fifteen, and one instance that we know of, where seventeen
were caught at one den from November to March 10th. This was
certainly a remarkable catch.
[Illustration: BOTH TRAPPERS--FATHER AND DAUGHTER.]
Old trappers will also tell you that signs are what you should look
for at all times. These are not only found at dens, but by watching
everywhere; signs found in the woods often cause the trapper to hunt
for dens which are often close by. Good dens are not at all hard to
tell by the experienced trapper, and if you are a young trapper and
can induce some experienced trapper to let you make the rounds with
him or pay him to spend a day or two with you, it will be to your
advantage.
During the summer months when you are running around through the
fields and woods fishing and hunting and having a good time, then is
the time to start the foundation for the coming season's trapping.
Always be on the lookout for signs and learn to read Nature's
writings. Then when the trapping season opens, you will know exactly
where to set your traps and you will be far ahead of the other fellow
that has waited till the season opens before looking over the
grounds.
I am glad to see an awakening of the trapper for the protection of
fur-bearing animals during the summer months when the fur is unprime;
also, the protection of the animal dens. In the June number of H-T-T,
writes an Iowa trapper, I called trappers' attention to Johnny
Dig-em-out and his destructive method of trapping, and I think every
trapper that has trapped in a thickly settled country will bear me
out when I say he has lots to do with the disappearance of the
fur-bearing animals. I will cite you to the buffalo for instance;
years ago the plains were covered with them, but after the hide
hunters had gotten in their work for a few years the buffalo was a
thing of the past. So, brother, let us take heed before it is too
late, or the time will soon come when trapping in the older settled
parts of the country will be a very unprofitable business.
Ten years ago in this part of the country, skunk were very plentiful;
it was a very poor farm indeed that did not contain at least one
skunk den, but now they are about as scarce a fur-bearer as we have.
The Dig-em-outs will ask, "Does it pay to trap skunk when you find a
den?" I say "Yes." Eight or ten years ago I tracked a skunk into a
den. I trapped three skunks in as many nights from that den, and
since then I have probably taken twenty-five from the same place, and
the den is in good condition yet, and each winter I know where to go
to get skunk. Brother, did it pay to leave that den? Some say it is
too slow work to trap out a skunk den; I will tell you a quick way
that I have tried with success. Build three or four pens near the
den, put a bait in each pen and a trap at the entrance of each. I
have caught as high as three in a night from one den, that way.
Now trappers, let us strive the coming season, to protect the homes
of our fur-bearers, so we can enjoy the pleasures and profits of
trapping in the years to come. Let us take the fellow that digs out
the dens aside and give him a little good advice and show him where
he is working against his own good. Many of them are nice fellows,
but simply a little thoughtless about the future of these animals.