92 THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS 



a stationary bar set horizontally above the loop of the snare, 

 and holds the quarry there. Many kinds of animals are caught 

 with snares, and in size they run all the way from rabbits to 

 bears and even to the great bull-moose. 



HUNTER CAUGHT IN SNARE 



Snares, steel traps, and deadfalls that are set for large game 

 are dangerous even for man to approach carelessly, and some- 

 times even the trapper himself has the misfortune to be caught 

 in the very trap he has set for some other animal. Early one 

 winter, in fact, just after the first heavy snowfall, and while 

 some bears were still roaming about, before turning in for their 

 long winter sleep, an Indian hunter — I have forgotten his 

 name — assisted by his son, had just set a powerful snare for 

 bears. Soon after starting for home, the hunter, discovering 

 that he had left his pipe by the trap, told his son to go on to 

 camp, and he would return to recover his treasure. On arriving 

 at the snare, he saw his pipe lying just beyond his reach at the 

 back of the loop, but instead of walking round the brush fence 

 and picking it up from behind, as he should have done, he 

 foolishly put his leg through the snare in order to reach and 

 dislodge his pipe. By some evil chance his foot caught upon 

 the loop; and instantly he was violently jerked, heels over head, 

 into the air, and there hung head downward struggling for his 

 life. He had made the tossing-pole from a strong tree, up 

 which his son had climbed with a line, and by their combined 

 weight they had forced the tree top over and down until they 

 could secure it by setting the snare. The tossing-pole, when 

 the snare went off, sprung up with such force that it not only 

 dislocated the hunter's right leg at the knee, but it threw his 

 knife out of its sheath, and, consequently, he had no means by 

 which he could cut the line, nor could he unfasten it or even 

 climb up — for he was hanging clear of the tree. Presently, 



