A. R. Harding

“ The fox is the most cunning animal we have, consequently he is the most difficult one to trap, says C. E. Matheny, of Ohio. But like all other animals he has a weak point, and if you attack him at this point he will, without a doubt, fall into your snares. One of the most important things when about to trap a fox is to have the trap perfectly clean. The word clean, in this sense, does not allude to freedom from rust, but means that the trap should be entirely free from human scent. ”

“ This is in a measure true, but a red fox will not step into a trap unless you use care in setting it, with any kind of scent. I don't care how frantic a fox is to get at the bait. They don't commit suicide if they know it.
There are many other ways to prepare for both mink and fox, all of them possessing merit, but my aim is to give the best, not those which are no use to the trapper. The more simple, as a rule, are the best. Some trappers are opposed to the use of scent, but you will find that man far behind others. ”

“ Don't try to catch a fox with a weak trap, for you will only be disappointed and at the same time be educating another fox, and he will make the rest shy, for they often travel in pairs. When making your sets, don't disturb anything around the place nor use a bush drag where there hasn't been one, for the fox is quick to notice. Use a grapple that can be concealed under your trap. Just try and see how slick a set you can make and try and learn the habits of the animal you are trying to catch, for that is the key to success. ”

“ I have come to the conclusion that the basis of all the most successful secret decoys for catching fox is the substance taken from the glands of the female fox during the running season, mixed with grease of some sort, together with contents of the glands of the skunk, preferably the female taken in the spring or latter part of the winter. I do not pretend to say that every one will be successful who uses that decoy. I am of the opinion, if directions are closely followed in the following method of water trapping for fox, you are reasonably sure to catch them if you use that decoy. ”

“ Most anything that will smell strong is good scent, but no matter how good your bait and scent is, you must have the trap so the fox can't smell it, and know how and where to set it. Don't forget to set your trap where there are foxes. This is one thing to keep in mind, always set where you see signs. Some think they can set a trap any old way and place, and ought to make a catch, and then get discouraged. If you don't get your game the first night try again and keep right on trying; it is courage and grit that makes a successful trapper. ”

“ After one gets the runways learned, and if he possesses a good gun that loads properly, and is a tolerably fair shot at running game, the means is much quicker. It is like digging out a nest of skunks as against the slow process of trapping one at a time.
I had a little experience with a sly old female fox last winter, says Claude Roora, of Ohio. I had noticed on early snows where this old fox had two holes under an old rail fence where she would pass through every night, and also a stone beside a sheep path where she would stop. ”

“ So it is that the fox of the older and more thickly settled sections is a very different animal from the fox--even though it be of the same variety or species--inhabiting a part of the country where its kind has not been so persistently hunted. Tricks that prove effective with the latter are utterly lost on his better-schooled brother. Hence the simple methods advanced by some trappers are a bit amusing to the trappers here in the East, where the subject of this sketch reaches the acme of wisdom, and is, we believe, the peer in shrewdness and cunning of any animal in the world. ”

“ I do not confine my fox trapping to any one method long, for I am always governed by the surroundings, and conditions, yet my traps are set and concealed the same way, no matter for what animals I intend to trap. ”

“ In regard to using scents, many don't believe scent is a help to trappers, but I'm one that believes in scent, because if there's a heavy rain storm it takes the scent from the bait. If a little scent is added, your bait is fresh again. Even heavy frosts have the same effect in this case. You have seen advertisements saying that scents will call an animal a mile. Don't take any stock in it, because any animal can't smell at the most only a few hundred feet away if the wind is right, not half as far if the wind is not right. ”

“ In one place he is not afraid and around the trap he is afraid. Now, how does he know when to be afraid or not? I think because when he sees a piece of bait in a new place it is not natural. Once last winter I knew where there was a dead horse and I used to go by it, and one day my brother was with me and of course he knew I could get a fox there, so to please him I set a trap, and not another fox came near. Well I smoked that trap, boiled it in hemlock and then smeared it with tallow, but the fox knew and never came within ten feet of it again, when they were coming every night before. ”

“ While looking for woodchuck signs early one spring on my way to pasture, I was following a old logging road when I saw a fox crossing in front of me and disappear in the ferns, going toward a high ledge west of the road. ”

“ Then they think that if the shyest old fox imaginable should come along that night he would walk into their snare as confidently as a cow into a stall, or a man into his own house. Without reflecting upon the methods of any one, we must say that we consider many of these expedients unnecessary, unless when dealing with an unusually shrewd customer. ”

“ In a fine moonlight, take your snow shoes and go where the foxes are traveling, and the moment you see one or hear one bark, circle around him so that the wind will carry the scent. He will come towards you and will stop at a certain distance from you, and as you notice him on the alert, stop moving. The fox will put his head up and will look in all directions in order to locate where the nest of the plump mice are, and as you notice this sound the squeal of the field mouse; the fox will at once run toward you ”

“ A hunter can always approach a fox when he is feeding, providing he knows how.
When I trap fox I do it on a large scale. I always set a combination of traps and snares. I carry a good supply of wire snares. The twine must be of dark color. In making a trail for fox, I take advantage of every good place I find either for trap or snares, either between bunches of weeds, trees, stones, stumps, roots, logs, fences, etc., where Mr. Fox will have to pass to follow my trail. On the rail or other board fences I use the twine snare, and on a barbed wire fence, the wire snare. ”

“ On the other hand, let the trap get fastened solid and the animal sets his reasoning powers to work; he finds out that he can chew from the under side of the jaws of the trap, and that too without giving himself any pain, and finds that he can easily slip the trap off from the stump of his leg.
Man has been known to do the same thing, when by accident he has been caught by the leg by a tree or a large rock falling on him. Surely the animal showed as much reason as the man. I once had a large fox trap set in a hollow log. ”

“ A fox will start on his nightly rounds and frequent small clearings in woods, sandy side hills and such places, and that is the place a trapper wants a few tanglefoot. I have trapped fox for quite a number of years, and I never caught one by accident yet. I always have to set for fox and fox only.
In regard to poisoning, I think that a man that uses it ought to be shot full of holes. In regard to iron smell, I will say that fox can smell iron, but bury your trap deep enough and you will be all right. A good scent is as follows: Take skunk essence, white of eggs, and let stand about one week. ”

“ Water, of course, leaves no scent where it is possible to reach the set by boat or wading, but where this is impracticable arrange to go to trap but rarely, if it remain undisturbed. The height of springs vary but little with wet or dry weather, and this fact should be taken full advantage of by the fox-trapper. Carefully select a trap that will not spring of itself. See that the trigger is pushed well into the notch, pick out a good, close-fibred piece of moss for pan, not large enough to clog the jaws, and stick a few small twigs around it to hold it in place. ”

“ It is a good plan to smear the trap with assafoetida or melted beeswax, with a few drops of the oil of rhodium. These are all good and may be employed for the purpose of deceiving a particularly cunning fellow after all other stratagems fail. Another good plan is to bait the bed several times before setting the trap, until the fox begins to think that this is the best place it ever knew to find a choice morsel ready at all hours. When a proper degree of confidence appears to have been established then put the trap in its place and catch him--if you can. ”

“ Yes, I know some say animals are not afraid of human scent. I have my ideas and know what I have to do to be successful. If others can make a success in a different way I will not disagree with them. You cut a stake, sharpen it at one end, cut it about 15 inches long, about 1 inch in diameter; leave a prong about three inches long and about three inches from top to stake down trap. I will set this No. 2 1/2 Blake now. I ask all of you to pay attention, as I have often made the assertion that I could set a fox trap before 400 persons and not ten of them would make fox trappers. ”

“ The fox rarely makes a straight trail when he is going to lie down; in this he resembles the deer. The fox sleeps most soundly between 11 o'clock and 2 o'clock in the daytime, and I have killed most of mine during that time. A fox jumped after 3 o'clock in the afternoon will hardly lie down again that day. A double-barrel shotgun loaded with No. 4 shot will stop any fox up to about 50 yards; above that distance coarser shot usually straddle the fox. When the day is cold and snow is crusty, stay at home, for you will get no fox but plenty of exercise. ”

“ When you see the wind and atmosphere indicates a fall of snow, go and set your trap, smear with balsam of fir, cedar, hemlock or spruce, set your trap on center of mound and on one side stick up a tree branch to look as if grown there, about eight inches high, fasten trap to a clog by the middle, cover trap lightly with some fine substance. A drop or two of scent is sure of every one that comes along. ”

“ Every trapper knows how difficult it is to set a large trap alone in the woods, especially in cold weather, when the fingers are stiff, and the difficulty is greatly increased when one has to work in a boat. One of these clamps applied to each spring will, by a few turns of the thumb-screws, bend the springs to their places, so that the pan may be adjusted without difficulty. ”

“ When you get ready to set your traps go out in a large field where foxes are traveling, make a good path across the field by traveling back and forth. Where you want to make a set leave a little partition across the path to guide the fox in the trap, which is covered with white paper and a little snow. Be careful in setting and not leave tracks outside of the path nor lay any sticks across. When going to your traps walk in the path, which makes it better, and don't let too much snow get over them. ”