FUR FACTS 87 



to trap. He must know the kind of places they frequent most, and 

 learn their motives for going there, and this can be done only by 

 the closest imspection (what they do there is mink or coonology, 

 and can only be guessed at) but it will be sufficient for trappers to 

 note their signs with care, and be careful not to tramp around much 

 or disturb their haunts, for sure as you do they will quit the place. 

 In fact, tramping much about their holes, dens and frequented places 

 will drive them away. (Note — ^never take your dogs with you when 

 you go to set your traps. The mink can scent a dog for days. Never 

 set a trap where dogs frequent.) 



It requires much care and ingenuity to trap the mink. The trapper 

 must know his habits well in order to be successful, for he is cer- 

 tainly the most cautious of all the wild animals in the woods, except, 

 perhaps, the fox and the wolf. At times the miok seems bold, but 

 he is always prepared for retreat. He is sometimes seen in open 

 daylight, but never without nearby retreat. 



The mink that visits your chicken roost has his advance and his 

 retreat all planned before he makes his venture. He always comes 

 in the rear along some fence through weeds or through any sort of 

 hiding. In fact, he always has his eye on some way of retreat . 

 If you track him you find him under cover in every way 

 possible, traveling in the most secluded places; through thickets, 

 along the hedges, under shelving banks, under logs, drift, rock fences, 

 and rock piles. When he puts up for the day he seeks, generally, 

 some inaccessible place, but he is found sometimes in temporary 

 places, and I regard that as more a matter of strategy than 

 security. 



If you track him you will find him crossing and doubling on his 

 trail, making many crooks and turns, goLag in and out of holes; and 

 you may believe that you have located him, when at the same time, 

 he may be a mile away. The only certain test is to make a circle 

 and count the ins and outs. If there are more ins than outs, you 

 can say he is here, and if you think best to trap him, find his retreats 

 and select the best one for a trap. If this one does not leave room or 

 place for the trap, make room, then place the trap, leaving a peep- 

 hole, but not enough for him to get out. That is, stop all but the 

 peep-hole. Do the same at the main entrance in the same way. 

 then see that the retreats are well stopped up. Go early next morn- 

 ing, and you are very sure to get him. The writer seldom or never 

 failed. I counted him as caught, unless he had some retreat I failed 

 to find. 



