372 THE TRAPPER. 



On one occasion we cut a dam and broke into a camp 

 without catching a single individual, and on the following 

 night caught the whole family in steel traps set at the 

 outlets ; these must be visited every hour or so during the 

 night. A good dog is of great service in finding beaver. 

 In winter, I am told, when the dams are cut, the Indians, 

 by putting their ears to the ice, discover the whereabouts 

 of the poor animal from the noise made by its teeth, which 

 chatter with cold and fright. The best time of year for 

 trapping is in April and May, as the fur is then heaviest, 

 and at this season they leave their houses and roam about 

 the streams, rivers, and lakes in the vicinity, and are 

 readily attracted to traps by the scent of castor. 



The castor is a curious brownish stuff contained in two 

 little bags or bladders common both to the male and 

 female beaver. It has a strong but not disagreeable 

 smell, and an extremely bitter taste. Dissolved in spirits, 

 or made into a sort of tea, it constitutes the great medicine 

 of the Indian, who has implicit faith in its healing qualities, 

 and takes it for as many disorders as Mr. Holloway's pills 

 are recommended to the white man for. Besides the castor 

 bags, each beaver has a pair of oil bags wherewith to oil 

 his jacket. This he always keeps pretty oily, but more 

 particularly so on the approach of wet weather. The oil 

 is much prized by the trapper on account of its odour, 

 which serves to allure to his traps other animals, such as 

 the marten and loupcervier. The genital organs of the 

 beaver are hidden from view, and it is difficult, if not 

 impossible, to determine the sex of the animal without 

 opening the body. 



There are two methods of taking them in the winter. 



