CHAPTER XVI 



TRAPS. 



For catching the mink, coon, fox, or any small animal 

 that may cross a stream of water on a fallen tree, be the 

 same large or small, a wooden trap may be used that may 

 be made in about half an hour's time by any man or boy 

 who has a little ingenuity. 



Where a tree or j^ole has fallen or been placed across a 

 brook, any small animals travelling in that vicinity will, 

 more or less, cross uiDon it, and I have long been puzzled 

 to find a traj) that would catch them. I have seen the 

 necessity for such a trap and have waited for other men 

 to invent it, but none was forthcoming; and at length, by 

 persevering, I contrived the following simple and easy 

 23lan, shown in fig. 1. 



The letter A represents the brook ; J), the tree crossing 

 it ; and C, the bed-piece of the trap, lying at right angles 

 to the pole, one end resting upon it and the other (it may 

 be 20 or 30 feet long) lying in the crotch j5", which is 

 driven into the bed of the stream. D represents the dead- 

 pole lying over the bed-piece C, working up and down 

 between the two guides, ^ E^ the hinge end of it resting 

 in the crotch H. The tra]) end reaches to two posts, 11^ 

 which hold up the trio:ger and cap piece G G, tied to- 



TO 



