54 



:^^^ 



rod is a flat piece of sheet iron with rounded corners, 11 inches long and 4^ 

 inches wide. This is the pan on which the victim must stej) in order to 

 reach the bait, a bird, rat or what not, which is hung from the rear wall 

 of the trap. In the more modern models the pan is made of stiff wire 

 cloth and the bait is fixed to it. A hole is bored through the center of the 

 pan a half inch from the edge farthest removed from the metal rod and 

 through it is placed the end of the trigger, bent to an angle of something 

 less than 45 degrees. The trigger is merely a piece of heavy wire, bent as 

 described at one end and with the other, which is straight, projecting 

 toward the front of the trap a distance sufficient to hold up the sliding 

 door at the front when the pan is raised an inch to an inch and a half from 

 the floor. Just before passing under the lower edge of the door, the 

 trigger is supported by being run through a hole bored in an angle iron sim- 

 ilar to that which supports the metal rod to which the pan is attached. 

 This is fastened to the wooden cross piece at the top of trap. The trigger's 

 length must be such that when the animal's weight bears the pan's outer 

 edge to the floor it will withdraw the support it affords to the door of the 

 trap, which drops forthwith and prevents the victim's escape. The door, 

 12 X 12 inches with a metal frame, works in metal-lined grooves contained 

 in two upright pieces of 1 x 2 stuff, 18 inches long, placed 12)^ inches apart. 

 These traps should be placed along the outside of the fence enclosing a 

 pen and should always be put back to back, to prevent vermin from at- 

 tempting to get at the bait from the rear. No trap has proved so effective 

 on game farms as this one. It is good for nearly every kind of vermin 

 that preys on game birds. 



Mr. Wallace Evans, proprietor of the largest commercial game farm 

 in the country, at St. Charles, Illinois, who is the inventor of this trap, 

 sells it at $8. In the following letter recently received from him, he makes 

 some interesting observations regarding his invention: 



I invented this trap about ten years ago and have improved it 

 from time to time as experience showed this was necessary. The 

 latest type has a wire cloth pan instead of the sheet iron that was 

 formerly employed. This permits the placing of the bait on the 

 pan instead of hanging it from the rear wall of the trap. Experi- 

 ence has shown that this greatly increases the effectiveness of the 

 trap when used around buildings. 



These traps are used principally on the outside of boundary 

 fences, not only for vermin, but for snaring escaped pheasants. 

 When used around fences we usually employ a short guide of wire 

 netting to make more certain the capture of any prowler along the 

 fence. This is the most deadly trap that I have ever seen for 

 the cunning old rats that can not be snared by the methods usually 



