BEAVER HABITS, BEAVER CONTROL, AND BEAVER FARMING. 21 



Steel traps. — ^The commonest method of capturing beavers alive 

 is by use of No. 3 steel traps with the jaws well wrapped with cloth. 

 The trap should be set under 8 inches of water just above a small 

 break in the dam. The break need not be more than a foot wide and 

 2 or 3 inches beloM'^ the water level, just enough to make a low roar 

 that will be heard over the surface of the pond. One end of a piece 

 of telephone wire, or similar wire, should be fastened to the trap 

 chain and the other end to a ^bush or tall stake on which a cowbell 

 is hung. The beaver will often come to repair the break before 

 dark and may be caught and taken out of the trap early in the even- 

 ing. It may sometimes be necessary for the trapper to sleep near 

 the cowbell, as the beaver should be taken out of the trap before its 



Fig. 7. — Light trap for catching beavers alive. This can be made at home or in any 

 blacksmith shop at a cost for materials of about $5 or $6. Weight about 27 pounds. 



foot is injured in struggling to escape. A wire basket should be at 

 hand into which the beaver may be dropped before being released 

 from the trap. 



Gage traps. — A large trap on the general plan of a steel trap with 

 wire or chain mesh sides to close over the beaver and catch it alive 

 has been successfully used by the Canadian Park Service and by 

 field assistants of the Biological Survey in the State of Washington 

 (PI. VI, Fig. 2). It is very eifective in certain places where the ani- 

 mals pass through canals or along shallow streams, its main disad- 

 vantage being its bulk, weight, and cost. 



A trap of somewhat different type seems preferable, especially for 

 use in places where beavers pass along waterways. One can be 

 made at home, or in a blacksmith shop, by any one of a mechanical 

 turn, at a cost of $5 or $6 for materials. This trap when completed 



