6 CIRCULAR 8, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



LOCATING TRAVEL WAYS 



Selecting the location for trap sets is very important and for best 

 results requires knowledge of the habits of the animals and careful 

 observations to detect their lines of travel. Persons who are planning 

 to trap should keep a sharp lookout throughout the year for fox dens, 

 hunting grounds, trails, and other signs of foxes. In logged-over or 

 partially cleared tracts, sandy wastelands, or ravines bordered by 

 forests or woodlots, there may be seen telltale "signs" of the presence 

 of foxes. Fox signs may also be found on trails, roads, ditches, and 

 terraces in cultivated fields and pasture lands. These signs include 

 tracks in dust, sand, mud, and snow; hair around burrows and on 

 fences and other objects brushed against; droppings; and "scent 

 posts." 



When looking for fox signs and places to set traps, the trapper 

 should avoid as much as possible making tracks along the travel ways 

 of foxes, for their inherent fenr of man may cause them to desert that 

 trail for a time. 



SELECTING TRAP SITES 



There are, several suitable types of trap sites. At the juncture of 

 travel ways is a good location for a trap. At a place in a trail where 

 a stick or small log causes the fox to break its step is another. Where 

 the trap should be set can usually be determined from the location of 

 the tracks. A natural widening in a trail makes a good site, the trap 

 being placed 6 or 8 inches from a small shrub or clump of grass at the 

 border of the trail (fig. 3). A scent should be used to attract the fox 

 to the set. 



A decaying carcass along fox travel ways acts as a lure, and trails 

 to it may be found on which traps can be placed. A good place for 

 a trap is on a nearby mound slightly higher than the general level 

 of the surface of the ground upon which the fox can stand and look 

 at the carrion. If the carcass is in a depression, like a gravel pit, 

 the trap should be placed on the rim, for foxes circle a carcass, ob- 

 serving it from vantage points. An excellent location along travel 

 ways is near a natural scent post where the foxes come to urinate. 

 Such places are at small clumps of grass or bushes or at fence corners 

 and fence posts. 



SETTING TRAPS 



The trapper should be equipped with a trowel; a sharpened piece 

 of angle iron or a prospector's pick; a "setting cloth" of canvas, sheep- 

 skin, or calf hide about 3 feet square; a "trap pad" or "pan cover"; 

 a bottle of scent; a small hand ax; and the trap. If the setting cloth 

 and the trap pad are made of new canvas or have human scent on 

 them, they should be spread out and buried in the ground or in a 

 manure pile for several days. If gloves are worn while making the 

 set, they should be used for this purpose and for no other. 



In making a set, select a spot so that the pan of the trap will be 

 about 8 inches from the bush or grass tuft along the trail. When the 

 double-spring trap is used, the springs should be bent back and ex- 

 tended toward the bush. Place the setting cloth at a distance con- 

 venient for kneeling upon it while working. Dig a hole large enough 



