CANADIAN TRAPPER AND FIFTEEN REDS.
The following, by W. J. Taylor, of New York, is his method for trapping the red fox: Choose a rotten stump near their runways, cut out a cavity in the top of the stump deep enough to set trap and allow one-half inch of finely pulverized rotten wood to cover trap, spring and chain. Do not handle pulverized wood with your hands. Have your traps thoroughly greased, chain and all, then smoke with hemlock, spruce, cedar or pine boughs. Smoke until trap and chain are black. This is to stop the smell of steel. Sometimes I use a moss covered stump, that is a stump with moss growing all or partly around its sides. Cut the cavity the same in stump, cover lightly with pulverized rotten wood.
Now go to another moss covered stump, cut moss enough to cover top of stump, cut a circular piece out a little smaller than jaws of trap, place this right on top of trap, then place the rest on top of stump, trim outsides to match outside of stump. Handle moss with sharpened stick and knife, never with bare hands unless set is made one week before baiting and scenting. I generally make my sets two weeks before placing bait and scent.
Place bait about six or eight feet from stump, always on lower hillside. Daub your fox scent on top of stump, side towards your bait. For bait I use muskrat carcasses, skunk, dead hens, rabbits, fish or partly decomposed meat. My receipt for fox scent is fish oil one-half pint (made by placing fish in glass can in summer and hanging in sun until decomposed) the musk sacks of ten or more muskrats, one or more fox matrix which are obtained from the female fox, also fat from the inside of either sex is good. Mix all together. It will surely draw the fox.