Trapping on the Farm. 



407 



sure on any part but the pan. To keep dirt from falling 

 beneath the pan and prevent the trap from springing, 

 either a light wad of clean cotton should completely fill the 

 space beneath the pan, or a sheet of thin paper should cover 

 the trap. The trap is covered with dry earth, free from 

 sticks and pebbles, the top layer being like the surrounding 

 surface, making the location of the trap invisible. In 

 winter, to keep them from freezing in, traps are bedded in 

 chaff, dry leaves, or twigs or needles of pine, spruce, or hem- 

 lock trees. 



Foxes often follow paths or trails, as may be ascertained 

 by observing their tracks, and, taking advantage of this, 

 trappers set traps where a passing fox in stepping over a 

 log or stone will naturally place his foot. The carcass of a 

 horse or other large animal placed near a trail attracts ani- 

 mals that way. They may also be lured by a scent made 

 from trout, eels, or other oily fish left in glass jars a few 

 weeks, or until the flesh has dissolved; the resulting liquid 

 is then covered with a layer of fat which has a strong odor 

 very attractive to carnivorous animals. This scent may be 

 made more effective by the addition of beaver castor or the 

 scent glands from muskrats. 



These and similar scents are relied upon to lui-e foxes to 

 what is known as the blind set (fig. 115), which is made 

 in cleared ground away from trails and water. A field or 

 pasture which foxes are known to traverse is selected and 

 an ordinary land set made there as already described. After 

 a trap has remained bedded for several days and every trace 

 of it has been obliterated, the trapper smears the soles of his 

 shoes with the scent, goes to the trap, and spreads some of 

 the scent on stones, stumps, or grass near it, using a small 

 new paint brush kept in the scent can for the purpose. In 

 looking at traps, and this should be done every morning with- 

 out fail, they are not to be approached any nearer than is 

 necessary. 



Gray and kit foxes are not especially wary. They are 

 readily caught by the methods used in taking red foxes. 



Fox skins should always be cased fur side out, the feet 

 and tail being carefully skinned and pinned out to hasten 

 drying. 



171647°— 20 3 



