62 THE STORY OF THE TRAPPER 



behind a ship ; for he knows as well as the man knows 

 there will be food in the traps when the man is in his 

 lodge, and food in the lodge when the man is at the 

 traps. 



But the wolverine has two characteristics by which 

 he may be snared gluttony and curiosity. 



After the deer has disappeared the trapper finds 

 that the wolverine has been making as regular rounds 

 of the traps as he has himself. It is then a question 

 whether the man or the wolverine is to hold the hunt 

 ing-ground. A case is on record at Moose Factory, on 

 James Bay, of an Indian hunter and his wife who were 

 literally brought to the verge of starvation by a wolver 

 ine that nightly destroyed their traps. The contest 

 ended by the starving Indians travelling a hundred 

 miles from the haunts of that &quot; bad devil oh he 

 bad devil carcajou ! &quot; Eemembering the curiosity and 

 gluttony of his enemy, the man sets out his strongest 

 steel-traps. He takes some strong-smelling meat, bacon 

 or fish, and places it where the wolverine tracks run. 

 Around this he sets a circle of his traps, tying them 

 securely to poles and saplings and stakes. In all like 

 lihood he has waited his chance for a snowfall which 

 will cover traces of the man-smell. 



Night passes. In the morning the man comes to 

 his traps. The meat has been taken. All else is as 

 before. Not a track marks the snow ; but in midwinter 

 meat does not walk off by itself. The man warily feels 

 for the hidden traps. Then he notices that one of the 

 stakes has been pulled up and carried off. That is a 

 sign. He prods the ground expectantly. It is as he 

 thought. One trap is gone. It had caught the wolver 

 ine; but the cunning beast had pulled with all his 



