on the St. Lawrence River and certainly 
that is the only means of transpor- 
tation on a stream of that size. 
The writer has never employed a 
power boat but has often wished for 
one. Once a trapper acquaintance sent 
all the way from northern Alberta to 
one of the eastern states for a folding 
canvas canoe. We trappers were all 
anxious to know how it would work. It 
worked all right for a while, but the 
rough usage to which it was sub- 
jected made it impracticable for gen- 
eral use on the trapline. 
In the north country we aim to make 
our “boats” as needed. Coming to a 
sizable stream, which is too deep to 
wade, a few logs are procured and tied 
together with whatever means are at 
hand, thus fashioning an emergency 
raft. Of course, in case trapping oper- 
ations are to be carried on along a 
certain stream, the raft is made 
stronger and large enough to accomo- 
date whatever outfit is being carried. 
Beaver and bear trapping go hand in 
hand in springtime, for at that time 
Bruin is interested in the green grasses 
that grow along the hillsides bordering 
the larger streams. 
Last winter there was an account in 
a Seattle newspaper of a man who had 
made quite a little stake trapping with- 
in the city limits. His work, mostly ’rat 
and mink capturing, was carried on en- 
tirely from the water and only shows 
what may be done in that line. 
As boys, my cousin and IJ trapped for 
mink on a tributary of the Puyallup 
River. This small stream was slow 
and deep, now and then widening out 
into a regular pond. The ocean tide 
backed inland to where it emptied into 
the Puyallup, at certain seasons, carry- 
ing a large number of salmon. The 
mink we found there were sly fellows, 
and if a boy was incautious enough to 
make his sets from the shore, he might 
as well have saved his time. So, at an 
early age, I learned the value of setting 
traps in the water from a boat or canoe, 
leaving absolutely no scent or sign 
whatever. 
This branch of trapping, at least in 
regard to being a specialty in itself, 
is fast disappearing. In certain of the 
eastern states, trappers have acquired 
the rights to trap big muskrat marshes, 
and in the past at least have made good 
money at it. A comparatively few 
years ago the province of Alberta, south 
of fifty-three degrees north latitude, 
was fairly alive with muskrats. Dur- 
ing the season of 1919-20, when an 
average muskrat skin would bring four 
or five dollars, they were trapped un- 
mercifully and trappers had no one but 
themselves to blame for a consequent 
law shutting them out. We believe that 
a few years of careful guarding will 
put the muskrat back on his throne— 
the king pin of the fur industry. 
Page 627 
In writing to Advertisers mention Forest and Stream. 
Marsh trapping is the dirtiest, messi- 
est form of trapping in our humble 
estimation. Often the operations are 
carried on where one couldn’t push, 
paddle or pole a boat to save his life 
and the only thing that remains is to get 
out and wade around in hip boots. 
Even with such long waders in it, seems 
a fellow is invariably getting into holes 
and letting the water run in at the top. 
A marsh trapper gets stuck in the 
mud quite as often as the flivver in 
rainy weather. 
Last winter I was trapping a musk- 
rat marsh. About the second trip I 
decided there weren’t enough ’rats in 
the country to tempt me to wade about 
in the slime and you bet I would have 
pulled my traps and beat it, but for the 
discovery of some fresh mink signs. 
A man, to make muskrat trapping 
pay, must handle a good many traps, 
working them continually. Generally 
speaking, if a ’rat doesn’t visit your 
trap during the first couple of nights, 
it should be moved. To one who has 
trapped fifty dollar martens and good 
foxe., there is no appeal in such a life. 
I would sooner peel my mitts and reset 
a marten trap when its forty below, 
barehanded, than monkey around in the 
water when it’s barely freezing. And, 
there you have it—the writer doesn’t 
like muskrat trapping! 
In concluding this chapter on special- 
ized trapping, we make no attempt at 
stating which would prove most profit- 
able. Where I might go into the moun- 
tains and make a stake, you might do 
better with an auto on the plains or 
vice versa. A lot depends on one’s 
previous experience, although in a cer- 
tain sense a man who has made a suc- 
cess of one branch is quite likely to do 
fairly well at another. 
Thru Quebec Wilds 
(Continued from page 588) 
one out of a piece of alder, the bowl 
from a piece one inch in diameter with 
the center cut out, and the stem from 
a quarter-inch piece, about eight inches 
long, the pith being burned out with a 
red-hot piece of hay wire. Before mak- 
ing the pipe, I made some cigarettes, 
using thin birch bark for cigaret paper, 
and it worked well, but as I much pre- 
fer a pipe, I was not happy again until 
my “Woodland” was finished and go- 
ing strong. 
We had frost last night, and some 
of the leaves turned yellow and red. 
We found a gull’s nest on a rock near 
the center of a small lake, with one egg 
and a young gull in it, recently hatched. 
It remained in the nest when we pulled 
up alongside and took a snap of it. 
After we had held it in our hands for 
a few minutes, we put it back in the 
nest, and it promptly jumped out into 



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Six Years with the Texas Rangers 
1875 to 1881 
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A book that will appeal to everyone 
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