FUR FACTS 193 



timber, brush or swamp between open land, my idea being that in 

 such a place the animal is most apt to travel closer to his back track 

 when he makes his return trip; then I pick out a tree or stub within a 

 few feet of his track, and as near the center of the strip of timber as 

 possible, the idea of this being to have my bait or scent placed in a 

 position most likely to be smelled by the lynx while passing. I 

 prefer the size of the tree to be not over ten inches, for if it is too 

 large the body of the tree will shelter the bait from the wind, and it 

 is not likely to be smelled at so great a distance. Next, I choose the 

 south side of the tree, so that the sun will shine on the bait, which will 

 help it to throw off a stronger scent. Next, if the spot chosen looks 

 as though the snow would drift in, on or around it, I take a No. 1 or 

 No. 1J^ Newhouse trap and fasten it to a pole (six feet long and two 

 inches in diameter) two feet from one end. Stand the pole on its four- 

 foot end, eighteen inches from the tree on its north side, then lea,n 

 the top end of pole against tree; then, take fine-blade grass and roll 

 up into a ball half the size of a hen's egg, then part it a little, and 

 place in its center eighteen or twenty drops of Funsten's Lynx Bait. 

 Close up and bind it on to the upper side of the pan of trap with a 

 thread. Now I drive a small nail into the south side of the tree, 

 high enough so that when the trap is hung on it by the link of chain 

 nearest the trap, the pan of the trap will be about twenty-four inches 

 from the ground. Set the trap and swing the spring to the locked 

 jaw, then bring the chain around the tree and hang the trap on the 

 nail. I then drive another nail in such a position that the back rib 

 of the trap will rest on it, leaving the loose jaw of trap hang down a 

 little. This nail will steady the trap firmly, if driven in the proper 

 distance. I then take a small handful of fine-blade (dead) grass, 

 about eight or ten inches long, with the blades all running one way, 

 tie the butt ends together, and then tie to the top side of the spring of 

 trap, letting top ends of grass hang down over the trap; then spread 

 the grass out thinly over the trap, and tie one or two blades of the 

 grass to each jaw of the trap, so that they will stay in place; now part 

 it a little in the center, and let the ball of grass on pan of trap pro- 

 ject out a little the farthest. Now I rub some of Funsten's Trail 

 Scent on my moccasins and smooth out all of my tracks with my foot, 

 at the same time backing away. A lynx will smell this bait of 

 Funsten's as far as sixty yards, if everything is favorable, but the 

 colder the weather the less apt he is to smell it, although I have had 

 them come a distance of fifty feet, straight to the bait, when the 

 wind was unfavorable and the thermometer registered 58 below zero. 



