THIRTY SILVER FOX SKINS WORTH $5000.
In the section of country which I am now writing, that just east of the White Mountains in New Hampshire, there were innumerable such roads and paths, so that I had all the territory I desired for the purpose. Have caught many a sly chap in this manner. Had a good grapple at end of chain and never fastened a trap but let them make a few jumps when they would nearly always get caught up, yet on a few occasions have had to put up a pretty stiff hunt before locating them. For instance, there might be a snow storm, if late in the season, or a heavy rain. In this case there might not be any signs to go by, and I would have to go on a blind hunt and cover considerable ground before I could skin my fox.
I had my traps all set one fall and everything was coming my way, until one morning I found that I was dealing with a fox that knew as much about trapping as I did. I had my trap set in a spring and every time he wanted to steal bait he could manage it without getting into the trap. I let the trap set the same way and kept it baited but meanwhile I was thinking of a plan to capture him. In fixing the spring I made a dam out of dirt, placing a few small flat stones on top of it. Now I made up my mind that as the dam was the nearest point to the bait that he must be stealing it from that place. Now I took the trap out of the spring and put in a stone covered with a tuft of grass to resemble the trap and setting the trap itself in the dam, covering with dirt and laying a little flat stone on the pan. I had made up my mind that when he stepped on the dam he would step on the small stones that I had laid on top to keep the dirt from washing away. While stepping on the dam to reach for the bait he stepped on the small stone on the pan and was held fast by a No. 2 1/2 Blake & Lamb trap, just as I had calculated on.
One way of trapping fox is setting under water, especially in slow moving water, is most effectual in killing the trap odor, says a Michigan trapper. The metallic smell will not rise through water, but will be absorbed and carried away by it. As much as a fortnight before setting take a hoe and dig a shallow pool in a swamp where foxes are known to cross. Dig it six or seven feet across in a mucky ooze and leave a drain way or outlet open so that in event of rain storms, water will not rise and stand too deep in the pool. The pool should bear as few evidences as possible of having been made by man. In the course of a fortnight after the scent of the trapper has faded away and leaves have fallen, the trap is smeared with tallow and the chain is fastened to long narrow stone, approaching so as to make and leave as few tracks as possible. The trap along with the stone and chain is set in the bottom of the pool, not in the center, but so near one side that the trap will be from 12 to 14 inches from the low bank. A little tuft of grass as large as a soda biscuit is placed directly over the trap resting on it, so the top of the tuft will show a little above the water, looking as though it grew there. About a foot beyond it further out in the water another tuft a little larger and thicker, is placed so it will show distinctly above the water, and on it place the bait. A fox crossing the swamp on a chilly day scenting the bait will approach the pool. To avoid wading in the cold muddy water he will probably step on the nearest tuft. That is the one on the trap in which he will be caught by the foreleg.
I will tell you what I know about the fox, says a Canadian trapper. He is the slyest animal we have to deal with here. I think the best way is to use several different ways to trap foxes, and your chances will be doubled in taking them.
Take a horse or beef head and put it out in the woods and leave it there for about a week. Then if the foxes have been at it, set your traps and cover with leaves or dead pine needles. When you are leaving take a brush and brush some snow over your traps to about half cover the leaves. Leave no foot marks around and you will be pretty sure to get your fox.