TRAPS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 4?! 



stalks, its feet are ensnared: beinj^ unable to rise, the hawk remains 

 stupidl}' on its perch and allows itself to be captured. 



The Tarahumari of Chihuahua are very ingenious in trapping rats, 

 gophers, and deer. The ancient inhabitants of Copan caught quetzal 

 bii'dsin snares, and having plucked their beautiful feathers, set them 

 at liberty again. In southern Brazil birds were snared by the feet, 

 by the neck, and by the body. The Fuegians also use baleen nooses, 

 which are set hidden in the grass for the purpose of catching partridges 

 and other birds. 



(/i) CJntchhnj (lericts are best exemplified ])y bird lime. The ordi- 

 nary jaw trap of the hunters may be placed in this class; the common 

 steel rat trap is a good example. It is possible that spring nets may 

 have been used in certain parts of America before the disco ver}-, but 

 the principle involved in the metallic clutching traps was not known. 



C. — KILLING TRAPS. 



The principles involved in killing traps are those mentioned under 

 ''hunting." as crushing, piercing, and cutting. 



(/) WiigJit traj>. — The simplest form of killing trap is the dead fall, 

 in which a heavy weight drops suddenly upon the animal, destroying- 

 its life. The most interesting parts of the dead fall are the inventions 

 for securing an unstable support of the weight and for releasing this 

 support l)y means of the trigger or bait contrivance. There are few 

 separate accessory appliances to the dead fall, since the animal is slain 

 outright. 



The fall trap was found in several of the areas mentioned. Essen- 

 tially, in its least complex form, it consists of five parts: A heavy weight 

 to crush the animal, a fixed support (perhaps a stake in the ground), 

 an unstable support on which the weight rests, a catch which prevents 

 the weight from falling until the bait is nibbled or the string pulled, 

 and, lastly, the trigger itself. The Central and Western Eskimo form 

 of dead fall has a slab of ice as a crushing weight. The Hudson Bay 

 Company's native trappers have a great variety of this particular 

 type. 



Maximilian figures a dead fall used for bears in Pennsjdvania. The 

 animal walks between two logs. Above are two logs fastened firmly 

 together. These are held up by a crossbar supported between two 

 sticks. A lever attached to the log passes over the crossbar and is 

 held down at either end in a ratchet, where there is a bait. The l)ear 

 crouches between the logs, pulls the trigger, and releases the lever, 

 which flies up and lets the ring that supports the fall slip ofl': then 

 comes the tragedy. 



Similar traps are noted in British Columbia and throughout the 

 southwestern country, but not in middle America or in South America. 

 The Hopi of Arizona, accoiding to Dr. Hough, have two very primi- 



