Traps set along a trail and near an obstruction meant to divert the
mountain-lion close to a scratch hill, are only partly successful. The
trapper may, however, take advantage of the mountain-lion's keen sense
of smell by dropping a few drops of oil of catnip in the center of the
undisturbed scratch hill, as a lure.
Why catnip is so attractive to members of the feline family is not
yet fully known. Experiments have indicated that it produces sexual
excitation and also that it has a soothing effect on the nervous system,
similar to that of opiates on man. In some of the larger circuses catnip
has been used for years in gentling animals of the cat family. The use of
catnip oil in this country to lure members of this family within trapping
distance has been remarkably effective.
[Illustration: B3463M
Figure 2.--Quarry of mountain-lion. A carcass found on its side,
as illustrated, furnishes an excellent opportunity for making a carcass
set of three or more traps, 15 to 20 inches away]
When pure catnip oil is obtainable it should be used, diluted with pure
petrolatum, in the proportion of 40 drops of the catnip oil to 2 ounces
of petrolatum. A catnip lure so placed that it will last a long time has
been experimented with by members of the Provincial Game Conservation
Board of British Columbia, and later by the writer in the United States.
Prepared as follows, it promises to increase the effectiveness of
trapping in mountain-lion control:
The petrolatum-diluted catnip oil is smeared thinly over a piece of
cotton batting about 8 inches square, and this is covered with another
piece of the same size. The catnip-oil sandwich thus made is placed on
an ordinary tin pie plate, brown in color, so that the bottom will be
inconspicuous against the bark of a tree. Two or three feet from the
ground a tree is blazed to make the sap flow, the cut being made in the
shape of the plate. The plate is spiked over this blaze, with the batting
next to the tree so that the cotton will be kept moist by the sap. To
prevent its being torn out by a bear, the plate should fit snugly into
the cut, the lower edge flush with the bark. The bottom of the plate
should be perforated with small holes made with a shingle nail, so that
the scent will escape slowly. The plate should be shaded from the sun as
much as possible.
Such scent stations should be placed on trees along creeks where
mountain-lions are known to travel, particularly near deer trails that
lead to water. They are probably best placed on trees in narrow canyons,
where the chances of successful trapping are greater because of the
narrowness of the path along which the mountain-lion must travel. The
writer has known catnip pans to be visited by mountain-lions in such
places as long as 6 months after placement, and in British Columbia the
game authorities report a lion's visit to a station 10 months old. After
the scent station is made, traps should be set, as described later, near
the base of the tree. The mountain-lion, attracted by the catnip odor in
the plate, steps into the trap when approaching the lure.
[Illustration: Figure 3.--A 2-trap "blind" set for
mountain-lions. In the saddle of a divide the traps are placed in the
trail where it narrows. A small stick or other obstruction should be put
between the traps and one at either approach, to make the lion step into
one of the traps rather than between or over them]