FUR FACTS 263 



sufficient to bear up the weight of smaller animals in order that 

 traps they are setting for beaver and otter will not be sprung 

 by muskrat. This requires some skill, and it is often the case that 

 in trapping for beaver and otter the trapper will find a muskrat in 

 the trap, and this can only be prevented by placing something under 

 the pan of the trap that will require the heavy weight of the beaver 

 or otter on the pan to spring it. This is especially true in setting for 

 bear. Bear traps are very dangerous; and in some sections trappers 

 that are trapping for bear send out a general warning, so that some 

 brother trapper will not be caught in the trap. 



The amateur trapper will often merely set his steel trap on the 

 top of the ground and trust to luck that the animal will come along 

 and poke its foot in it and get caught. This will never happen, or 

 at any rate rarely happens. You must get your animal to the trap, 

 and after you get him there, you must get him caught and killed, 

 in such a manner that he will be there when you arrive and you can 

 take his pelt and thus be paid for your work and trouble. Therefore, 

 the things for you to consider are, first, where to set your trap, how 

 to set your trap, and then how to get the animal into your trap. As 

 to the place, this is something that will have to be left entirely to the 

 individual trapper himself and can be decided only by careful in- 

 spection of the ground over which you are going to trap. Pick a 

 place where you find the signs and after you have found a likely 

 place, scoop out a hole big enough to carefully conceal your trap from 

 the animal. Then line the hole with leaves or cotton so that the trap 

 will not freeze or stick to the ground, and it is well to put a small 

 piece of cotton between the pan of the trap and the bottom of it so 

 that they will not freeze together if you are trapping in real cold 

 weather. Then cover your trap over in such a way that a strong 

 wind will not blow off the leaves, leaving the trap bare and exposed. 

 Cover it so that it will be only lightly covered, but cover it enough 

 that the first puff of wind will not blow the covering away. Then 

 just over your trap, say two or three feet above it, on a convenient 

 bush or against the side of a tree, or against a bush that you have 

 placed there yourself, sprinkle a few drops of Funsten Animal Bait. 

 Next arrange a pathway so that it will be narrowed down and the 

 animal in getting to the spot will have to walk directly over the trap 

 pan in sniffing around for the Animal Bait. If you are using meat or 

 vegetables, the same rule will apply. If you desire to kill the animal 

 instantly use the Funsten Two Trigger Trap for this purpose. 



