Edwin Hollis

“ The usual plan for trapping is to make a hole part way through the top of a Musk-Rat house, and there place a trap, for when the Mink is hunting Rats, of which its winter food principally consists, it is sure to try to enter by the hole already partially made. ”

“ The country is slightly undulating, open prairie and bush being fairly evenly distributed, interspersed every few miles with lakes. These are all more or less alkaline, some of them so strongly as to kill cattle if they drink any quantity of the water; they naturally contain no fish. ”

“ They are practically never dangerous to human beings unless driven into a corner, but are a great nuisance to ranchers, as if they once take to killing sheep or calves they seem to prefer them to other food. Those I got were all caught with hounds, except one suffocated in his earth, for they are too wary to be trapped. ”

“ It is impossible to dig out burrowing animals in winter, as the frost penetrates about four feet.
The gins used by the fur-trappers are, for the collector, much superior to those sold in England, as in the first place they have no teeth, and consequently do not tear the skin; and, secondly, the under part of the spring is put on with a ring round the jaws, like the upper part, so the trap can be bent either way to fit an angle in the hole or run. ”

“ They live in colonies in burrows on the open prairie, and are a great nuisance to grain-growers, as they gnaw off the straw at the first joint when about eighteen inches high (it is said for moisture) , sometimes clearing a space of an acre or two as if mown. They also store grain for the winter. At time of going into winter quarters they are very fat, and are then much sought after by Indians as food. ”

“ Appears to be equally distributed over open prairie, bush, and cultivated land. One caught by hand, January 28th, 1902, in open, when thermometer registered 30° below zero.
An old half-breed trapper—who has for many years made the greater part of his living by trapping fur for the Hudson's Bay Company, who do a large business with the Indians, trading goods for fur—gave me many useful hints, on which one or two notes may be of use to other collectors. ”

“ It inhabits bush country, and never appears to make its form in the open. I saw no young ones, but was told by half-breeds that they have from three to four at a litter, generally under a fallen tree, not in a burrow. They are easily snared in wires. ”