If you find where mountain lions have killed an animal and left part of it there is the place to set a trap for they are almost sure to return in a night or two.
This animal is also frequently caught by setting a trap where deer or other game has been killed. The chances are good if there is a lion near it will smell the blood and be attracted to the spot as many hunters know that have killed game, dressed and left it until the next day, to find on returning that a lion had been there and helped itself.
In setting for this animal the trap should be fastened to a clog — never solid — as they are quite strong.
CHAPTER XXVI.
WATER TRAPPING.
Here is where the steel trap reveals its superiority over all other traps, for the homemade ones cannot be used for water sets. Strictly speaking all the "water animals" that are valuable for fur are the otter, beaver and muskrat, although large numbers of both coon and mink are caught at water sets, as they frequent the streams, ponds and lakes, a great deal in search of food.
In the New England states, as well as some other sections, foxes are caught in water sets mostly at springs. They are generally trapped this way in the fall and early winter before freezing weather.
BEAVER.
The beaver, as I know him, is a very shy and cunning animal, always on guard against danger, which makes it pretty hard to trap, unless the trapper thoroughly knows his ways and habits. My experience has been wholly confined to the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia and State of Washington, writes a trapper of experience.