THE MARTEN. 337 



Their food consists chiefly of squirrels, hares, grouse, mice, 

 and birds' eggs. They are fond of fish also, but cannot catch 

 them. A year in which squirrels are plentiful in the woods 

 is considered by marten trappers to be a good season for 

 trapping. The fur is in season from 1st November to 1st 

 April. There is the greatest possible difference in the value 

 of the skins. Marten skins taken north of the St. Lawrence 

 in the Labrador direction are worth from 1?. to 11. 5s., whilst 

 those from New Brunswick are not worth more than 6s. or 7s. 

 The darker the colour the more valuable the fur. South 

 of the St. Lawrence, though an occasional dark-furred 

 sable is now and then taken, the colour of the fur is a light 

 chestnut, almost a yellow. In the Labrador and the nor'- 

 west the fur of the marten is a dark lustrous chestnut, 

 almost in the back approaching to black. The farther 

 north the better the fur, thus the marten of Gaspe are 

 worth more than the marten of New Brunswick, but are 

 inferior to the marton of Labrador and the nor'-west. The 

 same remark applies to most furs. The best way to make 

 a marten trap is to fell a tree, some 10 inches in diameter, 

 cutting it 4 feet from the ground. On this stump, which 

 must be cut flat and level, construct a little camp made of 

 chips sharpened at the end and driven into the stump. 

 Leave a small doorway at one side. Over this set the dead- 

 fall which should be a pole about 15 feet or 20 feet in length, 

 one end resting on the bough of a tree about the same 

 height as the trap, the other supported by the bait stick. 

 A trap set on the ground is of no use as it gets blocked up 

 with snow. The best bait is the head of a grouse, but 

 any sort of flesh or fish answers. Steel traps are some- 

 times used, suspended by chains from trees, but wooden 



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