PROTECTIVE MEASURES. 



27 



DIRECTIONS FOR SETTING TRAPS. 



The best anchor for a wolf trap is a stone drag of 30 or 40 pounds 

 weight, to which the trap is securely wired. A long oval stone is 

 the best, but a triangular or square stone can be securely Avired. 

 Ordinary galvanized fence wire or telegraph wire should be fastened 

 around the ends of the stone and connected by a double loop of the 

 wire, and the trap chain fastened to the middle of this loop. (See 

 figs. 3 and 4.) A jerk on the trap tends to draw the bands together, 

 and the spring of the connecting wire loop prevents a sudden jar that 

 might break trap or chain. Twisted or barbed fence wire may be 

 used if sufficiently strong, but it is not so easily handled. If no 



Fig 3. — Method of fastening wolf trap to triangular or square stone. 



stones are available, or if the trap must be immovablj?" fixed, it 

 should be fastened with twisted iron stakes that can be driven below 

 the surface of the ground. They should be at least 18 inches long 

 and of good iron straps three-quarters of an inch wide and three-six- 

 teenths of an inch thick. In light soil they should be still longer. 

 (See fig. 5.) If a picket pin sufficiently strong, provided with a 

 swivel that will turn in all directions, can be purchased at the local 

 hardware store, it may not be necessary to have a pin made to order. 

 The trap, chain, and stone drag should be buried out of sight close 

 to a runway, where the wolves follow a trail or road, cross a narrow 

 pass, or visit a carcass, with the' trap nearest the runway and flush 

 with the surface of the ground; to keep the earth from clogging 

 under the pan, the ])an and jaws should be covered with an oval piece 



