TRAPPING LYNX 67 



pable of standing a combined dead weight of two 

 hundred pounds. Copper or brass wire is of no 

 use. The place being selected, a small enclosure, 

 about a foot wide and two deep is built with 

 small trees or dead wood. A cross bar is made by 

 cutting a long sapling about two inches in diam- 

 eter, and driving the thick end in the snow. 

 This bar should be about eighteen inches above 

 the snow where it crosses the enclosure. The 

 bait is then put in the bottom of the enclosure 

 with some scent, and the snare set by tying to the 

 bar. The snare should hang about eight inches 

 off the ground or snow, and be about six inches in 

 diameter. The surrounding open portion of the 

 enclosure is then filled up with light green 

 branches and the snare is ready. A steel trap is 

 set in the same way, leaving the front of the 

 enclosure entirely open. When a lynx is caught 

 in a steel trap he will make one desperate effort 

 to break loose. If he does not succed in that 

 one jump he quietly returns to the enclosure and 

 lies down in it, coiling himself up as comfort- 

 ably as he can, and there he will remain without 

 attempting to move until he dies of starvation. 

 In all my experience I have never seen them act 

 otherwise, and they can remain alive about four 

 weeks, without food or water. An occasional one 

 can be shot by following the fresh track in soft 

 snow and imitating the barking of a dog or the 



