264 THE AXGLKR AXD HUXTSMAX 



As wild cats are known to be great game destroyers, it 

 is permissible to publish the following suggestion for their 

 capture by trapping: 



A Pen for Wild Cats: 



The wild cat is a shy, slinking night prowler, found 

 alike in hilly regions and thick swamps. It has no great 

 degree of cunning, but can not be attracted to a trap from 

 much of a distance, for the reason that it does not have a 

 very keen nose. Scents help considerably in bringing this 

 animal to the trap. 



A wild cat has little appetite for decayed meat, so the 

 meat must be fresh. Rabbits and partridges are good. It 

 is best to build a pen by driving stakes into the ground, with 

 an opening for the animal to enter. Set the trap in this 

 opening and cover lightly with suitable material. Then 

 hang the bait inside. A few evergreen boughs thrown over 

 the pen will keep the snow out and make it look more hid- 

 den. Babbits and squirrels are often a great bother to this 

 set, by getting into the trap. It will help to keep the rab- 

 bits out if some dead brush is dropped in front of the pen. 

 They do not like to jump through dead brush. A little 

 springy stick under the pan of the trap will often prevent 

 small animals from snapping, and so keep it ready for the 

 heavier game w r hen it comes along. 



At butchering time a wild cat or two may be caught if 

 the offal is taken to a likely place in the woods, and traps 

 are set around it. The writer took three one winter in traps 

 set around a dead horse. 



When small game is plentiful, wild cats do not take 

 bait very well. A set that may be used then, is prepared by 

 making a long, narrow pen, or passage, that the animal can 

 walk through, and hanging a piece of red cloth in it, with 

 some scent on the cloth. 



Along the edges of lakes, when they are frozen over, is 

 a good place to set traps for wild cats. Here, or any place 

 for that matter, it helps to hang a rabbit skin from a string 



