IN THE VALLEY OF ELK RIVER 



[9 



green tunnel through a dense forest of jack pines, and 

 on the way through we saw many interesting things. 

 One of the first was two small saplings from which the 

 bark had recently been stripped clean by an elk who 

 wished to rub the velvet off his new antlers. And close 

 beside the two white stems was a third sapling, the size 

 of a walking-stick, which not only had been peeled but 

 also bitten in two about four feet from the ground. It 

 was good to see such fresh proofs of the fact that elk 

 still survive in the valley of the Elk. 



The next object of special interest was a marten trap, 

 close beside the trail. It was such as any good axeman 

 can make in about two hours, with an axe and a sapling. 

 It was a very neat piece of work. A spruce sapling 

 about ten inches in diameter was cut off four feet above 

 the ground, so squarely that the top of the stump was 

 practically level. From somewhere or other, three very 

 thin pieces of spruce, like shingles seven inches wide, 

 were split off and driven into three cracks split in the 

 top of the stump, cornering together to form a tight box, 

 open on top and one side. Then a ten-foot length was 

 cut out of the sapling stem, one end placed on the ground, 

 and the other rested in the box with one side out. This 

 was a deadfall. With two sticks a very simple trigger 

 was made, the log was raised, the triggers fixed to hold 

 it up, and a bait adjusted on the end of the long arm of 

 the trigger. The upper end of the log was raised six 

 inches above the edge of the stump. Result: The wan- 

 dering marten smells the bait. He cannot reach it from 

 above, so he climbs nimbly up the side of the stump. 



