WISCONSIN TRAPPER — KNOWS WHERE TO SET.
Now look sharply to see which hole the mink uses most. You can tell by the leaves and the grass which are worn to a sort of chaff in the mouth or entrance of the den. If you look carefully you will perhaps see three or five holes. You will always see two or three holes larger than any of the rest. The smaller holes are to escape by when any larger animal comes into the den.
If you look sharply you will notice a few inches from one of the holes another hole which he uses. Well, make a bed and place your trap deep enough to be covered lightly, just in front of this hole and so that your trap jaws will close lengthwise with the hole or the worn path. Never set your trap crosswise to a mink hole or run. Always drive your stake level, with the ground in which your trap is set if possible. Now go to the hole in front of the den and set your other trap or traps in the same manner, make just as little noise as possible while setting the traps and when leaving.
CHAPTER XVIII.
LOOKING AT TRAPS.
It is known to secure best results, traps should be looked at each day and the earlier in the morning the better. A trapper who has out from 50 to 150 traps scattered for a distance of ten, fifteen or twenty miles has a good day's work before him, but the trapper who has only a few should make his round early in the morning. It may be that an animal is not securely caught and an early visit to the trap will still find your game fast, whereas had you waited till later in the day it would have escaped.