Harper's Outdoor Book for Boys

by Joseph H. Adams

I took a piece of wire-netting about three feet square and bent it so as to form a tube three feet long and about one foot in diameter (Fig. 15). I then took two other strips of wire-netting, three feet long at the top, one foot wide, and two feet at the bottom (Fig. 16); these I bent into funnel shape. I sewed one funnel in about the middle of my cylinder and another in one end, as shown in Fig. 15, strengthening them in their position with strings from the small ends to the sides of the cylinder. The other end of the cylinder I closed with a piece of strong bagging so sewed on that there was a space left at one side which could be untied when I wished to empty the trap.

The manner of setting the trap is as simple as its manufacture. A handful of clams or mussels, crushed so that the minnows can get at the flesh, is thrown in between the first and second funnels. The fish, little crabs, small eels, and the like, go in, and when they try to get out they find it much easier to swim through the second funnel than to find the small hole in the first. I have had several of these traps, or “pots,” as the fishermen call them, in operation at one time, and have caught as many as half a bushel of small fish in one night.

The trap can be made by making a frame of hoops and lath and covering it with mosquito-netting, but it is not so desirable as the fine wire, being more easily torn.

A Water-turtle Trap

Some time ago, while spending the summer in the country, I began the pleasing amusement of making an aquarium. I used various methods to procure the inmates of the great glass box which I had made for the purpose, and was successful, except that I could not get a water-turtle. There they would lie on logs in the pond sunning themselves, but the moment I came within reaching distance, plump they would go into the water. At last I took an old soap-box, and after carefully removing one end I nailed on the cover. I then fastened the end to the cover by hinges, so that it would swing inward, and after throwing in a few bones and scraps of meat, I sunk the box in the pond close beside a big log where the turtles were accustomed to sun themselves. I put a heavy stone on the box, so as to keep it steady, and awaited the next morning for developments. Fig. 17.

Here I may say that this trap takes advantage of a peculiarity in the nature of the water-turtle—namely, if there is a log or stone that he cannot get under, that is just the place that he wants to get; and I calculated that the slight resistance offered by my swinging door would be just enough to make the turtles determined to get into my box. The next morning when I went to my trap I found several turtles of all sizes, from one tiny, yellow-spotted fellow, or mud-turtle, not larger than a half-dollar, to an ugly, great snapper as big as your hat, and so ill-tempered that I let him go again, glad enough at having got rid of so troublesome a visitor. After that I set my trap several times and caught a number of turtles. The smaller ones furnish a charming addition to an aquarium, and the larger ones, if properly dressed, make a capital stew.

An Eel-pot

All along the Atlantic coast eel-pots are made on the same general plan, a bottle-shaped basket having a funnel fitted at the bottom and provided with a hat that is held on by two straps of green oak.

Three forms are used on which to build up the basket-work. The large form is usually ten inches in diameter and shaped down to eight inches at the top or neck. This form is two feet long and has a round stick driven in the small end. This in turn rests in a hole bored in a solid piece of plank, so that it is held in an inverted position and revolves in the hole. Green oak is used for the ribs and bands. This is cut as straight and free from knots as possible, and is soaked in water for weeks before it is split and slivered. Green oak will sliver in an even and uniform manner if it is started right, and from the trunk of an oak-tree six inches in diameter enough material can be had to make several dozen eel-pots. The ribs are three-quarters of an inch wide and about one-eighth of an inch thick, while the bands are a trifle thinner and wider. A number of the ribs are tied around the form as shown in Fig. 18, and beginning at the bottom the bands are woven in and out around the form, turning it as the work progresses so that the immediate parts are always in sight. Where the ends join they are shaved down thin so that one laps over the other; then the weaving continues until the top is reached. The ends of the ribs are then shaved thin and bent back and slipped under some of the straps. A thin ribbon of the oak is sewed over and over around the edge to finish it. The top or small end of the basket is finished in a similar manner.

The cone or funnel form is fifteen inches long, nine inches in diameter at the large end, and tapers down to two inches at the bottom as shown in Fig. 19. Ribs are tied to this form the same as in the case of the large one, and the weaving begins at the bottom and is carried to the top, where the ends of the ribs are shaved and turned in as before described. The bottom or small end of the funnel is the trap, and here the long, thin ends of the ribs are left, so that the eel, when he goes through the funnel and into the pot, cannot get back again.