The Fur Animals of Louisiana 363 



where but, tried out in the Louisiana marshes, they have 

 pioved failures. 



Specialists know that there is nothing better for bait 

 than the natural food of the animal. To trap a muskrat 

 with an apple for a lure, we will first have to educate this 

 marsh dweller's palate, for he doesn't know what an 

 apple tastes like, but he does know how succulent and 

 sweet and satisfying t'.ie root parts of the three-cornered 

 grasses, the cattails and the bulrushes are — therefore, the 

 sight of an apple is no attraction. 



Where appeals to this animal's appetite and stomach 

 fail, we can appeal to other senses and try to capture our 

 prey by using a scent. A scent is a strong-smelling sub- 

 stance, ceitain kinds being particularly attractive to cer- 

 tain animals, as it arouses their passions and mating in- 

 stincts. 



As an animal, in its native habitat, can usually secure 

 an ample supply of food to satisfy its hunger, trappers 

 were forced to experiment with scent lures and for years 

 fur houses and ot'iers have sold such scents to trappers in 

 a concentrated form. The usual plan has been to claim 

 such scents are made from very costly and valuable in- 

 gredients and oils obtained from the far reaches of the 

 world and which, in consequence, had great alluring 

 power. 



All such advertised baits naturally, "are the best," 

 consequently the trapper is called on to pay 75 cents to 

 $1.00 for a vial containing only a few ounces of the 

 "rare" liquids. 



It must be admitted that many of these prepared 

 scents have proved successful, for they have been con- 

 cocted from well known and proved formulaes. Far more 

 have proved worthless — why, is a mystery, for it is not 

 necessary to pay dollars for scents and lures that will cost 

 only a few cents if the trapper elects to make up his own. 

 The following are extensively used and can be secured 

 from druggists : Anise oil, oil of Rhodium, Asafetida, fish 

 oil, used separately or mixed, will probably answer every 

 purpose of a Louisiana trapper. Mink musk and muskrat 

 musk, secured from the scent glands of these animals, are 

 also used. Male musk should be used to attract females. 



