now TO CATCH THE FOX. 17 



Put the trap 1ot7 enough when covered to be level with 

 the siirflice. Put hay chaif inside of the javrs level v.ith 

 tlie pan. Then put a paper over the pan reaching to the 

 inside of the jaws. Then cover with ashes or mould, and 

 make the bed look as it did before the trap was set. Bait 

 vrith cheese or scraps, or fresh meat of any kind. 



Another way is to bury the entrails "of sheep or other 

 animals in mellow ground, making a little hill over them. 

 Set your trap just at the edge of the hill in the dirt, al- 

 ways using the chaff and paper, and keep your trap clean 

 from rust. Scent with musk or lavender water. 



Here is another from an old trapper in the State of Oldo : 

 — First prepare the trap, then hold it in the smoke of 

 burning oat straw until it begins to svreat. Then dry it 

 off with a woollen cloth, and throw it into spring v»^ater 

 for one or two hom-s. After that, dry it off without let- 

 ting it rust. Make the bed with clover or" buckwheat 

 chaff, makhig it as hard as possible with the hand, except 

 a hole in the centre for the trap, which set in and cover 

 lightly with chaff. After the trap is set, take a feather 

 and sprinkle a little oil of amber very lightly over the bed. 



Another common-sense way of catching the fox is to 

 b^it him as usual, and clean your trap as clean as possible, 

 not only from rust and dirt (these should not be in your 

 trap any way), but of all human scent, such as it would 

 get by handling with your naked hands, or in any way 

 touching your body. This is what the fox becomes cun 

 ning about ; but a trap vrashed out in ashes and water, 



