Foe Is a Puzzlement 293 



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The idea was much more pleasing than the reality which 

 my approach revealed. A splatter of water, a small head out- 

 stretched in the midst of the cascade, and a plump dark body 

 which flapped its wings desperately and with the terror that 

 only an entangled bird can display. 



The trapped creature, a small green-winged teal, tried to 

 move back but was blocked by the vegetation behind it. It 

 plunged forward and when it disappeared from sight I knew 

 why. Attracted by apple bait, it had been caught by the jaws 

 of a muskrat trap. As the bird moved forward into deeper 

 water the weight of the metal had submerged it. 



I moved the canoe close and without waiting to pull up 

 my sleeve I reached to my elbow in the icy water, secured 

 the trap wire, and brought the bird to the surface. Its mad 

 flapping wet me as thoroughly as if I were in a hard shower. 

 Then the bird hung limp and exhausted. The frenzy was over. 



I suspect that I should have wrung its neck then and there, 

 for I knew the history of trapped ducks. This bird was only 

 one of about forty that I had taken from muskrat traps, birds 

 with bill crushed, wing broken, one or more legs smashed, 

 or dead. I knew that few had lived, for. I recognized later 

 their maimed bodies as they floated in the rushes. Few had 

 any chance to recover. The life of a healthy bird is a con- 

 stant struggle, and for the partially handicapped there is 

 usually slow starvation or quick end by rat, mink, or other 

 predator. I thought that I would examine this bird and free 

 it only if it was in good condition. When I loosened the trap 

 jaws a little the bird dropped into the water and instantly 

 dived. I waited for a short time, then resumed my paddling 

 with sleeve dripping and stag shirt profusely sprinkled. I 

 heard the wailing siren of an ambulance; the marsh was not 

 the only place where tragedy had struck. 



The visibility diminished as I groped along in the midst of 

 the fog which surrounded the canoe. I thought that I knew 

 my exact location but I grounded within five minutes. I tried 



