"I have more than one hundred deadfalls and catch large numbers of skunk," writes a Connecticut trapper. "A few years ago a trapper within two miles of here caught more than 60 coon in deadfalls. Since then coon have been rather scarce, but I am going to try them this coming fall. I prefer red squirrel for skunk bait to anything else, and extract of valerian for scent. Try it, trapper — it can't be beat. I have used it for twenty years and can catch my share every time."
The trapper that makes the largest catches usually is the one that has deadfalls and snares in addition to steel traps. Recently two trappers wrote of their season's catch and added that a good proportion was caught in deadfalls and snares. These trappers were located in Western Canada; marten 54, lynx 12, mink 19, ermine 71, wild cat 11, foxes 18.
While these trappers did not say, it is presumed that the foxes were caught in snares or steel traps, for it is seldom that one is caught in a deadfall. In Canada and the New England States, where foxes are plentiful, the snare is used to a considerable extent.
Skunk, mink, ermine, weasel and opossum are easily caught in deadfalls. One trapper in a southern state is said to have caught 94 mink, besides 38 coon and 57 opossum, in 28 deadfalls, from November 25th to February 25th, or three months.
CHAPTER XXIV.
GENERAL INFORMATION.
Early in September, 1906, the editor spent a couple of days at his home in Southern Ohio, where in the '80's along and near a small stream known as Kyger Creek, considerable trapping was done.
If readers are curious and have a good, large map of Ohio, and look at the southern border, some fifty miles above the mouth of the Scioto river, on a direct line or about double that by following the winding of the river, they will find Kyger Creek. The stream is about ten miles long and empties into the Ohio river below the village of Cheshire. The country is rather rough and rocky, but the timber has mainly disappeared.