THE OTTER'S HIGHWAY. 



M. S. H. 



From boyhood the trapping of fur bearing 

 animals had an indescribable charm for me. 

 The hunting for signs, the careful setting of 

 iraps, and the pleasant anticipations, not 

 always realized, when going over the line, 

 make it one of the most fascinating of out- 

 door pursuits. It also brings one in close 

 communion with nature and is a constant 

 challenge to skill, caution and the practical 

 knowledge of the wild creatures. 



More than 20 years ago, late in Oc- 

 tober, I secured a boarding place among the 

 foothills of the White mountains. It was a 

 good place for trapping. Several ponds, 

 with connecting streams and feeders, and 

 one medium sized lake gave promise that 

 mink and coon could be found. During the 

 several weeks of my stay, I did not meet a 

 trapper; and a few rotting deadfalls were 

 the only signs of the mink and coon hunter. 

 At that time my opportunities for trapping 

 had been limited, and my knowledge of the 

 art was correspondingly slight. I had read 

 with avidity everything pertaining to it, in- 

 cluding one or 2 "Trappers' Guides." Could 

 I have had the information found in the 

 articles written by J. A. Newton and pub- 

 lished in Recreation, my catch would have 

 been much larger. 



Having plenty of Newhouse traps Nos. 



1 and \%, I commenced the campaign with 

 much enthusiasm, setting some of the traps 

 in places that a more experienced trapper 

 would not have looked at. I wished to 

 trap foxes, and I tried the simple method 

 of setting traps in paths made by cattle in 

 the mountain pastures. Finding a place 

 where a root grew across the path, I placed 

 a weather beaten chunk of wood a short 

 distance from the root, set the trap between 

 the 2 and covered it with leaves. I caught 



2 foxes by this simple plan. If rain or 

 snow came after setting the trap, to destroy 

 the human scent, the chances were much 

 more favorable. The deadly water set I 

 knew nothing about. 



Nearly all the fur was caught without 

 bait. The traps were set in the little feed- 

 ers which ran into the streams or ponds. 

 One trap was set in a stream connecting a 

 swamp with a lake. The first time I went 

 to the place I found a large raccoon in the 

 trap, dead and partly eaten. The coon was 

 caught by its hind foot, leaving fore legs 

 and head free, giving him a good fighting 

 chance. I_ could only conjecture that a 

 Canada lynx had probably killed him. 



One day I started on an exploring trip, 

 looking for signs of coon and mink. I 

 skirted one pond and followed up the 

 stream running into it until I came to a 



small pond far up among the hills. Just 

 above that pond, I found a small meadow. 

 The wild grass grew thick and tall. A 

 well defined, much used path ran through 

 the meadow in the direction of a wooded 

 knoll at the upper end. Supposing that 

 the trail was made and used by coons trav- 

 eling from the pond to the woods beyond, 

 I set in the path a No. 1^2 trap, driving a 

 stout piece of wood through the ring in the 

 chain for a clog. The next day a severe 

 rain storm set in, lasting several days. 



As soon as the storm was over I followed 

 the same route, finding one coon in a trap 

 set on the shore of the lower pond. When 

 I came 'in sight of the meadow I found it 

 covered with water to the depth of a foe 

 or more. Skirting the edges of the 

 meadow, I was passing a thick clump of 

 bushes, when an angry snarl and the rattle 

 of the chain showed my catch to be a splen- 

 did male otter. Its beautiful coat shone in 

 the sun as it tugged at the entangled clog. 



I was surprised and delighted. Making 

 a thorough examination of the surround- 

 ings, I found a trail leading from the pond 

 below the meadow, faint compared with 

 that through the tall, wild grasses where the 

 trap was set, but easily seen. At the upper 

 end of the meadow, up the wooded knoll, 



1 followed the trail, over the crest of the 

 hill, and on the farther side I found a deep, 

 dark spring, the head waters of a stream 

 running North. This stream flowed into a 

 large pond and thence into the Saco river. 

 Two trees standing close together on the 

 brink of the spring were worn smooth by 

 the otters' passing through them to the 

 spring, while the pile of droppings, glisten- 

 ing with fish scales, showed that this was 

 a much used resting place. Looking the 

 evidence over, I came to the conclusion 

 that trapping otter was easy, so I dug up the 

 pine needles between the 2 trees and there 

 set the trap. I even neglected the precau- 

 tion of sprinkling the ground, to destroy as 

 much as possible the human scent. Per- 

 haps it is needless to say" that I did not 

 catch another otter. If I had set my trap 

 in the brook my chances would have been 

 much better. 



The trapping of the otter caused much 

 talk among the farmers in the vicinity; 

 more than the capture of a bear, for they 

 were trapped occasionally, while I could not 

 hear that an otter had been seen or caught 

 in that locality for many years. 



My catch that fall was 3 minks, 3 coons, 



2 foxes and the otter. I also caught some 

 muskrats ; have forgotten how many. The 

 distance from the pond below the meadow 



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