PRELIMINARIES. 19 



weight attached, will behave more gently, or at least will not 

 be able to get loose for want of purchase. The weight used 

 in such cases is called a clog. It is usually a pole or stick of 

 wood, of a size suited to the ring of the trap-chain, and to 

 the size of the game. As the object of it is to encumber the 

 animal, but not to hold it fast, the chain should be attached 

 to it near one of its ends, so that it will not be likely to get 

 fast among the rocks and bushes for a considerable time. 

 The usual way is to slip the ring over the large end of the 

 pole and fasten it with a wedge. 



RULE FOR BAITING. 



There is one general principle in regard to baiting animals 

 that may as well be recorded and explained here, as it is ap- 

 plicable to all cases. It is this : Never put bait on the pan of 

 a trap. The old-fashioned traps were always made with holes 

 in the pan for strings to tie on bait ; and many if not most 

 novices in trapping imagine that the true way is to attract the 

 animal's nose straight to the centre of action, by piling bait 

 on the pan, as though it were expected to catch him by the 

 head. The truth, however, is, that animals are very rarely 

 taken by the head or the body, but almost always by a leg. 

 When an animal pulls at a bait on the pan of a trap, he is not 

 likely even to spring the trap, for he lifts in the wrong direc- 

 tion ; and if he does spring it, the position of his head is such, 

 especially if the bait is high on the pan, that he is pretty sure 

 to give the jaws the slip. Besides, bait on the pan calls the 

 attention of the wary animal to the trap ; whereas he ought 

 to be wholly diverted from it, and all signs of it obliterated. 

 Bait should always be placed so that the animal in attempting 

 to take it shall put a foot on the pan. This can be done in 

 several ways, all of which will be explained in detail here- 

 after. But this general direction may be given for all cases 

 that are not otherwise prescribed for : Place the bait either on 

 a stick above the trap, or in an inclosure so arranged that the 

 animal will have to step over the trap to reach it. 



