Trapping fox^s. 
175 
sport and skill, but perhaps his favorite way was trapping. 
This method is often slurred by so-called sportsmen, who 
extol the more brutal method of chasing by dogs and shoot¬ 
ing. The fox is startled from his lair by the baying of 
hounds. He bounds away and leads his pursuers a long 
and stern chase, able to save himself from their teeth, only 
to be shot by a man concealed behind a tree, who waylays 
him as he passes. The trapper meets him on his own 
ground. He is not chased. He is in no hurry. He is 
hungry, and sees bits of meat scattered over a small space, 
smooth and attractive. Frequently it is too smooth, but in 
any event it is skill pitted against keeness of vision and an¬ 
imal mind. 
The fall and winter were Mr. Huse’s season of trapping. 
If the ground had not begun to freeze at night a small patch 
free from sods was chosen for a bed. This was raked or 
lightly spaded and smoothed; then a thin coating of the 
same kind of soil was sifted over to obliterate all marks of 
the hand of man. On this bed small peices of meat were 
carelessly scattered and then it was left without showing 
any marks of artificiality. It required experience to do 
this. Frequently several nights would elapse before a fox 
came. Sometimes several more would pass before he would 
dare to step upon so suspicious looking a place. Occasion¬ 
ally a skunk would find the bits of meat and devour them. 
This would be a help for his tracks would convince the fox 
of safety. When a fox, as indicated by his tracks, had 
eaten the bait for several nights in succession, a small ex¬ 
cavation was made and in it the trap was set. Over the 
hinges of the jaws were placed longitudinally two flat strips 
of wood a little wider than the iron and long enough to es¬ 
cape being caught between the jaws as they closed. These 
were to prevent the sand from clogging the jaws as they 
closed. Farth was carefully built in between the jaws and 
the trencher so that when the final covering was made 
