ON THE TRAP AND TROT LINE IN THE SOUTH. 285 



streams. It is next to an impossibility to make a successful set 

 for mink and coon along the soft, slippery and sloping banks with- 

 out the boat. And, boys, the conditions on the trap line in the 

 South are altogether different from what it is in the North on the 

 clear, gravelly and rocky streams of the North and East sections. 

 It requires a trap one size larger in the South in successful trapping 

 than it does in the North and East. This is owing to the soft, 

 muddy, clay banks and streams. Another thing that is a necessity 

 along the rivers and streams of the South is the trap stake, while 

 on most streams of the North the clog or drag is far better than 

 a stake. 



I did not find the fur-bearers in Georgia as plentiful as I 

 expected, from what I had been told and trappers were numerous, 

 many of them in house boats. I expected to find some beaver 

 on Pumpkin Vine Creek, a branch of the Etowah River, but they 

 failed to show up on investigation. There is but very few otter in 

 northern and central Georgia and in Georgia, as in Alabama, many 

 trappers began trapping in September. The best catch in one 

 night at our camp was while we were camping at Coosa, on the 

 Coosa River, but it was nothing in comparison to what we did in 

 Alabama last season in a single night's catch. The catch at Coosa 

 in one night was two mink, three coon, three rats and two opossum. 

 This was done with about 20 traps. It was raining at this time, so 

 we kept this bunch of furs three days and until there had been 

 several more pieces added to the bunch. We wanted to get a picture 

 of this bunch of furs and the camp at this place but it continued 

 to rain and we were compelled to skin the animals and let the 

 pictures go. 



The steamboats are a serious drawback to the trappers on the 

 river in the South. The average trapper plans to get out on his 

 line and fix up as many of his traps as he can after the steam- 

 boat passes. On most rivers there is not more than one or two 

 boats passing daily and on some of the rivers, boats do not make 

 more than one or two trips a week. It was the intention of the 

 writer when going to Georgia, to work the trap line all winter, 

 going nearly the entire length of the Alabama River, to the 

 Mississippi line, but met with unexpected conditions that I was 



