00-KOO-HOO'S EL DORADO 89 



There are, however, other ways of catching the fox. One 

 is to chop a hole in the ice on a river or lake, fill the hole with 

 water and place in it a "hung" white-fish, in such a position 

 that, when the water freezes, about one third of the fish will 

 protrude above the ice. Then in the usual way, but without 

 bait or sign, set one or two traps near the fish. When the 

 fox arrives, he may succeed in eating the fish's head, but 

 when he tries to dig the rest of the fish out of the ice, he will 

 become too interested to remain cautious, and in shifting his 

 place of stance will soon be taken prisoner. But sometimes 

 a knowing old fox will first dig about in the snow, and on 

 finding the trap, will thereafter be able to eat the fish in safety. 



Mention of the fish bait recalls what strange things occa- 

 sionally happen in relation to hunting. A half-breed hunter, 

 named Pierre Geraud, living near Fort Isle a la Crosse, in 

 laying out his trapping trail one winter, had set one of his 

 mink deadfalls in a swamp close to the water-line; and on visit- 

 ing the trap after the spring flood, foimd a large pike caught in 

 it. All the signs showed that when the flood had been at its 

 height the fish had been swinoming about, and on discovering 

 the bait set for mink had seized it, and in trying to make away 

 with it had set ofif the trap, the heavy drop-log faUing and 

 killing the fish. 



When I expressed surprise that an animal should have in- 

 telligence enough not only to find a buried trap, but to dig 

 it up and then spring it without being caught, Oo-koo-hoo 

 explained that it was not so much a matter of animal in- 

 teUigence as of man's stupidity; for whenever that happened it 

 did not prove to the animal's credit, but to man's discredit; 

 the careless hunter having simply left enough man-smell on the 

 trap to form a guide that told the animal exactly where the trap 

 lay. Then, the overwhelming curiosity of the fox had com- 

 pelled it to investigate the mystery by digging it up, and when 

 found, the fox in its usual way would play with the strange 



