WATER TRAPPING.
Here is where the steel trap reveals its superiority over all other
traps, for the homemade ones cannot be used for water sets. Strictly
speaking all the "water animals" that are valuable for fur are the
otter, beaver and muskrat, although large numbers of both coon and
mink are caught at water sets, as they frequent the streams, ponds
and lakes, a great deal in search of food.
In the New England states, as well as some other sections, foxes are
caught in water sets mostly at springs. They are generally trapped
this way in the fall and early winter before freezing weather.
BEAVER.
The beaver, as I know him, is a very shy and cunning animal, always
on guard against danger, which makes it pretty hard to trap, unless
the trapper thoroughly knows his ways and habits. My experience has
been wholly confined to the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia and
State of Washington, writes a trapper of experience.
The beaver lives along streams or lakes. On streams he builds dams,
thus making a reservoir or lake. Sometimes he builds a dam at the
outlet of a natural lake, thus raising the height of the water. After
he has prepared his dam and built his home, he commences to gather
food, which consists of branches of trees, bushes, and even small
trees themselves. He always chooses tender, green ones. These he puts
in the bottom of the lake or stream in his hut or lodge. If he be
disturbed at any time he will stop work for several days and live off
the boughs already gathered and sunken, and it is almost impossible
to get him until he commences to gather again.
He usually does his work among young sprouts which grow along the
bank of his lake or stream. Sometimes he will go a short ways up the
stream and float the boughs down to his dam or hut, and then sink
them to the bottom, so when the ice gets thick he has sufficient food
sunk in the water to last him.
[Illustration: BEAVER, TRAP AND TRAPPER.]
There are several different ways to trap him, but I only know of two
or three, and will attempt to give them. The first thing is a No. 3
or 4 Newhouse trap with a long chain and big ring. Then the best way
is to take some bait, (described elsewhere), cut some small twigs,
one for each trap, and having found the dam of a family of beavers,
put on a pair of rubber boots, or remove your boots, and wade up
stream along the shore, or go in a boat to where they have been at
work gathering the sprouts. Be very careful, and don't step out of
the water on the land so they can see your tracks or scent you, for
should his suspicion become aroused by any human smell the beaver
will stay in his home for several days, thus making it tedious work
to trap him. When you have a place selected where the bank is steep,
fasten your trap chain to a strong stake beneath the water. Then
fasten a heavy rock to your trap and dig a flat place in the bank a
few inches beneath the water, placing your trap thereon. Then dip the
twig into the "madcin" and stick the upper end in the ground, just
out of the water, and leaning over the trap. Now your trap is ready.
The beaver comes out of his hut as it grows dark and starts toward
the ground where he has his feeding place. As he swims along up the
stream, his nose comes in contact with a familiar smell, and he will
swim right up to the twig to investigate. As his foot touches the
ground the trap springs and he at once plunges for deep water. The
stone rolls down to the bottom and pulls him under and he drowns in a
short time. He makes no noise to scare the rest, and before he has
time to gnaw off his foot he is drowned. In this way you can catch
the whole family.
Another way is to cut a hole in the top of dam and set the trap just
below the top of water just under the hole. Just as soon as he comes
out his eyes tell him his dam needs fixing. He goes at it at once,
and all the rest help him. He gets into the trap often before the
eyes of the rest, and they will leave the place at once never to
return.
Another way is to cover the trap carefully in the path where the
beaver goes from the water to his feeding grounds, but doing this it
is liable to scare the rest of them entirely away.
OTTER.
The otter is a pretty hard animal to catch. When I set a trap in an
otter hole, I cut a chunk of snow with an axe a short distance away
and set over the hole, covering it all over with loose snow. That
prevents it from freezing up for some time.
The best time to catch otter is in March when the first thaw comes. I
have kept traps set all winter for an otter and then got him in the
spring. The trap should be set a little to one side of the hole in
ten inches of water. I caught an otter once in an otter hole so deep
that I had to put in an armful of cedar brush, so as to make it the
right depth, and when he came to slide around there he got a
surprise, writes a Colorado trapper.
* * *
To trap otter cut a log about 18 inches in diameter and about 7 or 8
feet in length, then cut half off five or six inches of one end of
the log. Now float your log with the cut end down. Fasten your trap
chain to the side of the log. Float your log to just below the point
of a stream or a little above an otter slide.
See that the log end on which the trap rests is below the water so as
to give the otter a chance to climb onto the log to investigate the
scent which should be "Oil of Anise" smeared on to a stick and set
upright on the log. If you use good judgment in placing your
log-float, you can count the "balls" on the otter's feet at every
set.
I find where the otter comes out of the water, writes an Arkansas
trapper, to dung, or slide, as some term it, and I take a No. 4 steel
trap and set it where he comes out of the water and about two inches
under. Great care should be taken in setting a trap for an otter, not
to go too close to the slides. Have a pair of rubber boots and wade
in the stream along the edge to where the slide is. Set your trap so
as to leave everything just as you found it, as near as possible; if
handy, set from boat. No bait is required.
[Illustration: LARGE OTTER CAUGHT IN NO. 3 NEWHOUSE.]
Fasten your chain to a pole, say 6 or 8 feet long, leaving some limbs
on one end to prevent ring of chain from coming off and wire the
other end to a bush or something of that sort as far out in the water
as you can so the otter can get into deep water and drown. Have a
pole driven in the ground out in the water so the otter will get
tangled around the pole. This will prevent him from getting loose,
because he has no purchase to pull as he would have if out on the
bank.
I "hung up" three one night last fall. When I went to my traps I
found one otter that measured 6 feet from tip of nose to tip of tail.
I found an otter toe in one trap, another trap being taken off by an
otter, as the chain pulled loose at the spring. I was fortunate in
finding the otter that got away with the trap four days later,
tangled up in some vines about two hundred yards from where he was
caught; he measured 5 feet and 11 inches.
MINK.
An excellent way to catch mink is to take a fish, cut it in pieces
and tie all of them except one or two onto a large stick and fasten
it out about two feet from the shore in shallow water. Set your trap
about half-way between the shore and the stick and have it fixed so
that the covering will make a little mound above the water. Throw the
other pieces of fish down on the shore and you will get every mink
that comes along. Be sure that your trap is staked in as deep water
as is possible, so they will not get away.
In setting any trap it is a very good thing to have rubber boots and
stand in the water while setting. Some trappers say it is foolishness
because they are not afraid anyway. Well, I have caught mink in an
uncovered trap that was in plain sight and then again I couldn't get
them to come near with the trap under water. Some mink are more
careful than others and if you set for the wisest ones you will be
sure to get them all.
I will give you a good mink set, writes a Minnesota trapper. Here is
a trail along the edge of the water. Let us follow it until it takes
to the water. In order to pass around a projection in the bank where
the bank is so straight up that it is necessary for the animal to go
into the edge of the water to pass around this obstruction, and in
the edge of the water not more than two inches deep, level a place
for the trap and press it down into the ground until the jaws are
level with the surface, being careful to remove all mud from under
the pan, giving it room for free action. Stake the chain back into
the water full length and press it down into the mud.
After doing this get a handful of dry dirt, pulverize it and let it
fall gently over the trap, thoroughly covering it at least for a
quarter of an inch, even and smooth in all places. Now about eight
inches on each side of the trap place a small weed stalk an inch or
two above the ground and directly over the path and if you will put a
few spots of mud on it just where it crosses the path to give it the
appearance of being rubbed against, you will catch every mink that
runs this trail from either direction, and without bait or scent.
MUSKRAT.
When setting traps stake well out in the water, so that when the
animal is caught he cannot get to land, and nine times out of ten
when you visit the trap your game will be drowned. The trap should be
in about three inches of water where rats frequent. If set 3 inches
or deeper the trap is more apt to catch by the hind leg, which, being
large, the bone is not broken so easily. For bait use white corn,
apples, parsnips or turnips.
[Illustration: MUSKRAT CAUGHT IN A DOUBLE JAW.]
The idea advanced that the muskrat gnaws off his foot when caught is
erroneous. There are times, however, when the trap has broken the
bone in the leg and if the trap is a strong one, the animal frees
himself by plunging about until the pressure of the jaws have cut
thru the flesh. The flesh of the muskrat is not strong and when the
jaws spring together, if they break the bone in the leg, which
frequently happens, then the rat often frees himself before the
arrival of the trapper.
It is a good plan when making the round of your traps to carry a
stout club with which to tap game over the head, killing it, should
it be yet alive when you arrive. The entrance of the muskrat's den is
usually under water, unless the streams are very low, then you can
often find them.
In the mouth of these dens is an excellent place to set traps, as
game is passing in and out quite often and if traps are baited you
are pretty sure to catch game in a day or two. Where rats have made a
path from the water up the bank is another good place to set a trap.
The trap should be set just at the edge of the water.
It is a good idea to cover up your trap, even when trapping for
muskrat, for with continued trapping they become sly and learn to
shun traps. Along the bank of most all streams green grass can be
secured and this placed over your traps will enable you to catch game
that otherwise would shun your trap. The trap should be baited, but
the covering up of trap and chain will greatly help in catching game.
The earlier traps are visited in the morning the better, for should
the game still be alive there will be less chance of it getting free.
COON.
Now just a word about trapping coon in water. Set trap in water and
bait with fish. Now the right way to use fish is to cut it up in very
small pieces, drop some on the ground and some in the water and when
Mr. Coon comes along he will find that fish on the ground and then go
to feeling in the water and the first thing he knows he is in the
trap.
* * *
Here is my most successful set for coon. Find a log with one end out
of water, and one end running into the water. Place a trap on the log
an inch or so under water. Cover it with wet leaves all but the
treadle. Then place a few grains of white corn on treadle pan. Mr.
Coon will as sure put a foot down to investigate as he runs the log.
FOX.
I go around every fall in August and look for places to catch sly
reynard, says an Eastern fox trapper. I look up all the warm springs
back in the hills and dig them out and leave a stick or rail there
for a clog. I leave it just where I want it, so that they will get
used to it.
About the middle of October I go and bait every place, using a piece
of chicken or muskrat about as large as a butternut. I place it on a
rock in the middle of the spring or about a foot from the bank and
put a stone half-way between that and the bank just under water. Then
I take a stone, the thinner the better. You can find enough of them
around a ledge where the frost has scaled them off. I lay it on the
rock that is just under the water so it will stick out of water. It
ought to be 2 inches across each way.
I use the scent of the skunk on the sole of my boots so as to kill
the scent and handle the bait with a "knife and fork," never with my
hands. It won't be long before the bait it gone when I am ready to
set my traps, then I move the middle stone and put the thin one on
the pan of the trap so it will just stick out of the water. Try this
and you will get your fox. Scatter three or four drops of fish oil
around trap.
SPRING TRAPPING.
When setting traps for beaver and otter in the early open water,
writes a Canadian of experience, the greatest difficulty and
annoyance the trapper has to contend against is the varying depths of
the water caused by the melting of the snows during the day and the
running down of the levels during the frosty nights. This, of course,
applies more to rivers than to lakes, but as the rivers open so much
earlier than the lakes it is on them the early trapping is
prosecuted. It is most exasperating to visit one's trap in the
morning and find by the signs that the beaver or otter had paid his
visit and that the trap was out of order by being a couple of feet
under water, or high and dry up the bank.
To avoid this close observation of the working of the water must be
taken note of by the trapper. Weather conditions is a factor to be
reckoned with. A rainy night and a cold frosty one have, of course,
different effects, and must be considered with all their bearings by
the would-be successful trapper. The best time to make a set or final
adjustment of one's trap is as late in the afternoon as possible.
Then one sees how much the stream has risen since morning, and
calculate by his judgment how much it will recede during the coming
frosty night. Or if rain has set in or is imminent before morning,
how much further the rise will be.
[Illustration: A MORNING'S CATCH OF RATS.]
With these daily and nightly variations of the water, of course,
traps must be visited each morning and evening. It is therefore good
policy at every early visit to make a level mark near each set,
whereby in the evening when the trap is to be properly adjusted, the
day's changes can be noticed with accuracy. Small streams, of course,
fluctuate more than large rivers, the latter generally showing a
steady increase in volume from the beginning of the break-up until
the lake ice is all melted. There are many tributaries of large
streams that one can easily jump across early in the morning, after a
sharp frosty night, which are positively raging torrents at sundown.
On streams with such wide variances in depth, trapping is almost
impossible. At all events, a good deal rests on chance. One has to
manage his trap with a large amount of guess work. Streams with a
breadth of an acre or so move up and down with a greater degree of
uniformity, and the trapper who pays close attention to the movements
of the water and weather conditions can set his trap pretty
accurately for business. A river such as I have mentioned last, whose
feeders are a considerable distance up stream, generally falls a
third of what it rose during the daytime. Thus, if you find that
since morning the level has risen nine inches it will be safe to set
your trap six inches under water. By this calculation there would be
three inches over the jaws at the lowest ebb next morning, the night
before being cold and dry.
I have caught both otter and beaver in traps set on a half submerged
log, a place which makes an ideal set on waters that are liable to
vary in height, as the log moves with the change of height and the
trap is always in order. Another good place for a trap is on a
floating island when such can be found, but these favorable places
are not always obtainable. A beaver or otter will be caught in deeper
water in the spring than in the fall. In the spring they swim about
with more vigor and consequently displace more water in front of
their breasts, their feet thereby, setting off the pan in what would
at other seasons be too deep water.
A piece of castorum is the general lure used by most trappers for the
animals I am treating of. In fact castorum is used for almost any
animal. But a stronger "draw" for beaver or otter is a drop or two
from the scent bag of the animal. The contents of this sac can be
emptied into a small vial and carried about in the trapper's pocket
to be used when required.
A small twig dipped in this and stuck in the bank back of the trap
will cause any otter or beaver swimming past to come straight for the
trap, regardless of consequences.
In setting a trap for these animals care must always be taken to
douce all about the trap before leaving. This can be done from the
canoe or boat by flipping water with the flat of the paddle. A
difficulty in setting spring traps is the planting of a picket to
hold the trap. The banks are generally frozen even for considerable
distance under water, and driving a picket or stake is impossible.
One good way to overcome this condition when procurable is to fasten
the trap chain to a good sized flat stone. Have a wire from this to
the shore tied to some willow or root, and if anything is caught,
with the wire you can drag everything ashore.
When stones are not to be procured a young spruce can be cut ten or
twelve feet long of a size at the butt that the trap chain ring will
pass over. Leave a good tuft of the head branches, removing all the
rest down to the butt. The ring thus being assured of a clear run
down to the tuft, the trap is set and the end of the pole made secure
to the bank either by a piece of wire or by a cord. If the latter,
care must be used to tie close down to the prong and the cord
carefully covered with mud or something else to hide it from rabbits
or other animals that would surely gnaw, thereby endangering the loss
of your trap and animal.
Trapping, like everything else, to make it a success, must have
proper attention. A man who sets a trap haphazard and visits it only
occasionally cannot expect to be very successful.
SALT SET.
I use both the bait and blind set; the water set I think is the best,
that is, in bitter cold weather when the ice is thick. My way of
making, I call it the ice set, writes an interested trapper, is to
take a piece of oil cloth or an old buggy top cover will do, and put
about 5 pounds of salt in same and sew it up, having it about 2
inches thick. Don't make it too solid, leave it loose enough so you
can work the most of the salt around the edges to bed the trap in.
Now puncture with a needle to let the fumes of salt through; cut a
hole through the ice at edge of the water, scrape out hole to bed
salt in; but first put a stone in the hole and bottom and side it up
with stones to keep the mud from clogging the needle holes. Now you
will wonder what the salt is for; simply to keep the ice from
freezing the hole shut. I had nine of that kind of sets last winter
and trapped 7 mink. The hole will never freeze shut. Always set trap
under water.
Last winter I told my better half that I had better take my traps out
of the run where I trap, as I couldn't make a water set, because they
froze up over night. She said, "Why don't you put salt around your
traps?" That put me to thinking so I got an old piece of oil cloth
and got her to make four bags for me on the sewing machine; I put a
sack of salt, 5 pounds in each one, and used them as I have
described.
BAD WATERS.
The marshy lands that are tributary to the Atlantic extend for
hundreds of miles along the Maryland shore of Chesapeake Bay. These
lands are sometimes entirely covered with a brackish water forced up
by the tides from the sea, while at other times they are covered by
the fresh water brought down by the flooded rivers from the higher
lands of the back country.
Upon these vast extents of boggy wastes large numbers of fur bearing
animals, mostly muskrats are annually caught, and many trappers make
a good living from the fur and the meat which as "Marsh Rabbit" is
served at the Bon Ton restaurants of the neighboring cities.
The water of these marshes varies much in its component parts at
different places on the coast, caused by the varying quality of the
streams which flow through them. This is plainly shown by its effect
upon the traps used by the trappers of the different localities.
While in some places the springs will stand apparently as well as in
fresh water streams, in others they break very badly.
[Illustration: THE BLACK WATER MARSH.]
Formerly at one point known as the "Black Water" region the trappers
often lost nearly one-half their springs in a few days trapping,
owing to the action of this peculiar water. Just what the cause of
this action is has not yet been fully determined.