CIRCULAR 1, FISH AND AV'ILDLIFE SERVICE 



carcasses. Where the ground conditions are right for good tracking, 

 natural scent posts may be detected by the claw scratches and the 

 small mound of dirt where the bobcat has covered its excrement. 

 Such habits are similar to those of house cats. In passing along its 

 trails, the bobcat will usually revisit these scent posts. 



When natural scent posts can not be readily found, one may be 

 easily established along the determined trail of a bobcat by dropping 

 scent (of a kind to be described) on a few clusters of weeds, spears of 

 grass, or stubble of low brush. The trap should be set between the 

 trail and the place scented, about 6 or 8 inches from each. (Fig. 4.) 

 Any number of such scent stations may be placed along a determined 

 trail. The farther from the trail a trap is set, however, the more 



D_.i/. :.); B.4415 



Figure 3. — Placing a scent set for bobcats: A, double trap set, placed as in blind sets, but a few 

 inches off the trail instead of directly in it; B, traps bedded, and springs and jaws properly 

 covered and pan unobstructed, ready for covering with a trap pad, on which the topsoil is to be 

 spread. Scent sets are placed between the trail and a clump of weeds or other natural or artificial 



scent posts 



scent will be needed. For dropping the scent, a 2 to 4 ounce bottle 

 fitted with a shaker cork may be used. 



The basis of the scent may be any kind of fish, but oily varieties, 

 such as sturgeon, eels, suckers, and carp, are preferred. The flesh 

 should be ground in a sausage mill, placed in strong tin 

 Preparation or galvanized-iron cans, and left in a warm place to 

 of Scent decompose thoroughly. Each can must be provided 



with a small vent to allow the escape of gas, otherwise 

 there is danger of explosion. The aperture, however, should be 

 screened with a fold of cloth to prevent flies from depositing eggs, as 

 the mixture seems to lose much of its scent quality when maggots 

 develop in it. This preparation may be used within three days after 

 mixing, but it is more lasting and penetrating when it is about a 

 month old. 



Fish scent alone gives excellent results, but several modifications 

 have been found highly effective. To the decomposed fish as a 

 basis may be added mice, beaver castors, musk glands from minks, 

 weasels, and muskrats, and the bladders of coyotes and bobcats. 

 Oil gives body to the scent and to a certain extent prevents freezing. 

 If the mixture appears too thin, glycerin, brains, fish oil, butterfat, or 

 other animal fat, such as that from woodchucks and ground squirrels, 

 may be added. 



