148 AT THE NORTH OF BEARCAMP WATER . 
two huge steel jaws lined with sharp teeth. 
The trap, when set, is buried beneath a layer 
of moss. If a bear or man steps between the 
opened jaws, thereby pressing a pan which 
frees the two powerful springs below the jaws, 
the trap closes instantaneously, the teeth are 
locked in the flesh, cutting sinews and crushing 
bone. A man thus caught is maimed for life, 
if, indeed, he does not die from starvation and 
pain before he can be released from his horrible 
imprisonment. A bear usually drags the trap 
until its anchor catches in a tree, or his strength 
is exhausted. Sometimes he gnaws off his foot 
and crawls away bleeding and crippled. The 
trap weighs from twenty-five to forty pounds, 
and although usually marked in such a way that 
its owner can recognize it, no name betrays the 
identity of the trapper. 
The places chosen by the bear hunter for set¬ 
ting his traps are those to which a bear is in the 
habit of going often. On damp and mossy 
spots the great footprints of the brute show 
plainly, and when the trapper is satisfied that 
Bruin walks that way habitually, he cuts out a 
square of moss upon which the footprint is 
plainly visible, places his open trap in the hole, 
restores the moss with great care, and goes 
away for a week, or even longer, visiting other 
traps, some of which may be many miles away. 
