The Fur Animals of Louisiana 355 



than 2% of them recover." [Unquestionably a correct statement as far 

 as the Louisiana marshes are concerned. — S. C. A.] 



"My 'single-grip' traps are, in so far as their accomplishment is 

 concerned, exactly similar to ordinary steel traps. Their only supe- 

 eriority over the leaf spring type of traps is that by the use of coil 

 springs, spring breakage (which varies in different localities, but in 

 Louisiana would amount to at least 25 <# ) is eliminated. These traps 

 are, however, smaller, easier to set, more flexible and stronger than 

 the ordinary leaf spring traps now on the market. 



"The 'adult 'rat' trap. While I do not care to say too much about 

 this trap until it has been proved to those interested that it is what 

 I claim it to be, I believe that everyone will appreciate its value to the 

 marsh owners, trappers, State of Louisiana, if it accomplishes the 

 work which I have developed it to do — namely, to catch only animals 

 of a size large enough to have a worthwhile value to their pelts, and 

 to not catch or injure the very small 'rats which are worthless from 

 a marketable standpoint. This, it seems to me, will take care of the 

 problem of always leaving enough breeding stock in the Louisiana 

 marshes to insure a full crop of 'rats the following season, and if it 

 works out successfully there can be no doubt but that it will be worth 

 millions of dollars annually to the fur industry in that State. 



"From my observation when out with trappers in the Louisiana 

 marshes, from 15% to 30% of the animals that were being caught had 

 absolutely no commercial value, and if these could have been left in 

 the marshes until the following season, not only would their own value 

 have been saved but by the next season each one of them would have 

 multiplied perhaps by ten. 



"My 'live trap' is, of course, a specialty, and its use in its present 

 form will probably be confined to experimental purposes and for use 

 where it is desired to secure animals for sale alive as breeders or for 

 restocking areas for the purpose of muskrat farming. 



"My experience in not being able to catch muskrats when I was in 

 Louisiana in July is exactly similar to experiences that I have had in 

 the Maryland marshes. I told the trappers whose marshes I visited 

 that I did not believe we would have any success, but they were so 

 positive in their assurances that I was desirous of making the trips 

 for the purpose of seeing whether there was, perhaps, a difference 

 there as compared to conditions that I was used to, but I found that 

 there was not, and the trappers themselves agreed with me that it is 

 next to impossible to trap animals successfully in such extremely 

 hot weather." 



"The humane game trap. There is at the present time a great deal 

 of agitation throughout the country in connection with the cruelty of 

 the common steel trap, and the development of a humane game trap. 

 We have developed a humane game trap which is safe, practical, 

 adaptable, and cheap: as a matter of fact, it is exactly the same as 

 the steel traps now in use with the exception that it has attached to 

 it an absolutely sealed receptacle which is filled with calcium cyanide, 

 and an animal that is caught in the trap is quickly relieved of its pain 

 and suffering when it bites into the container and applies the effect 

 of the contents to itself. 



"While the animals that it is desired to trap will, without exception. 

 bite the containers, this form of trap has the distinct advantage that 

 domestic animals and cattle will not, and it also has the further com- 

 mendable feature that, upon exposure to the air, the poison gas in 

 the calcium cyanide passes off quickly and nothing is left that is 

 dangerous. No animal except the one actually trapped will, or can, 

 be affected by the use of the poison in this manner, and it will be 



