tie your traps in bunches, set the leaves on fire and keep your traps 
moving in the blaze until thoroughly smoked, being careful not to 
heat them too hot so as to affect the temper in the springs. Drop 
them after this in running water and wash off the scent of smoke 
and let dry. 
Make blind sets for all animals so perfect that the eye cannot 
detect the set. A blind set is made in the trails or logs on which the 
animals travel and the bait is placed on each side of the trail the 
length of the animal you are trapping for. Cover the bait with a few 
leaves or a piece of bark to protect from rain or sunshine. When 
making a log set you should notch the log to receive your trap and 
conceal it with moss or pulverized rotten wood or worm dust and 
place your bait opposite trap on each side of log on the log. You 
can use dirt and leaves for a covering, though it is not best. 
When making sets for beaver or otter set your traps on their 
trails from six to ten inches under the water and make trails and 
slides that resemble the natural trails and slides made by the animals. 
Conceal traps and stakes well. Place bait two or three feet from 
the traps in the trail on the bank and cover to protect from rain and 
sunshine. Wear rubber gloves when handling your traps and keep 
your hands free from sweat or odor of any kind. Wear rubber boots 
when setting your traps and running your trap line. 
Don’t allow your breath to come in contact with anything when 
making a trap set. When your face is near the ground or log, hold 
your breath or breathe easy. Don’t track the animals’ trails with 
your track and avoid dragging yourself against brush while setting 
and running your trap line. When water is handy, wet the set after 
you have made it. Avoid all scent of yourself. 
To conceal the trap with moss, cut a piece the size of the inside 
circumference of your trap when set, place this moss over the trap 
and then join this moss with other moss, covering the trap completely 
and allow the covering to extend beyond the trap for some distance. 
The moss should stand upright as though it grew there, to conceal 
a trap with dirt, pulverized or worm dust, place large flat leaves over 
the trap, then cover the leaves with the rotten wood, worm dust or 
dirt. The inside covering should not extend over the jaws of the trap. 
It should fall inside the trap when sprung. The covering and the 
outside will be thrown out when the trap is sprung, leaving the trap 
clear. 
My scent baits are used to attract and check and incite the ani¬ 
mal’s curiousity until he steps on the trap, and are placed on each 
side of the trail opposite the traps. This is done to enable the animals 
to scent the bait, regardless of the way the wind is blowing. Two traps 
set together on the same set doubles your chance to catch the animal. 
T. ALEXANDER, 
Linnton, Oregon. 
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