Wild turkeys are approached by the aid of a call made from a hollow bone. Some skill and experience are needed both to make the call and use it when made. Some hunters succeed in imitating the cluck, or “yelp” as it is called, without the aid of the bone; but to do this it is necessary to study the exact pitch and intonation of the bird’s voice, which can only be done by listening to it. Great numbers of wild turkeys are taken in “cribbets,” or pens, which are made much on the same principle as the bird trap shown at the front of our full-page illustration, only that, instead of sticks of ordinary size, poles are made use of. The following directions for making a wild turkey pen or trap are given by Audubon, and are thoroughly practical and to the purpose: “Young trees of four or five inches in diameter are cut down and divided into pieces of the length of twelve or fourteen feet. Two of these are laid on the ground parallel to each other, at a distance of ten or twelve feet. Two other pieces are laid across the ends of these at right angles to them, and in this manner successive layers are added until the fabric is raised to the height of four feet. It is then covered with similar pieces of wood placed three or four inches apart, and loaded with one or two heavy logs to render the whole firm. This done, a trench about eighteen inches in depth and width is cut under one side of the cage, into which it opens slantingly and rather abruptly. It is continued on its outside to some distance, so as gradually to attain the level of the surrounding ground. Over the part of this trench within the pen, and close to the wall, some sticks are placed so as to form a kind of bridge about a foot in breadth. The trap being now finished, the owner places a quantity of Indian corn in its centre as well as in the trench, and as he walks off drops here and there a few grains in the woods, sometimes to the distance of a mile. This is repeated at every visit to the trap after the turkeys have found it. Sometimes two trenches are cut, in which case the trenches enter on opposite sides of the trap, and are both strewn with corn. No sooner has a turkey observed the train of corn than it communicates the circumstance to the flock by a cluck, when all of them come up, and, searching for the grains scattered about, at length come upon the trench, which they follow, squeezing themselves one after another through the passage under the bridge. In this manner the whole flock sometimes enters, but more commonly six or seven only, as they are alarmed by the least noise, even the cracking of a tree in frosty weather. Those within, having gorged themselves, raise their heads and try to press their way through the top or sides of the pen, passing and repassing on the bridge, but never for a moment looking down or attempting to escape through the passage by which they enter. Thus they remain until the owner of the trap, arriving, closes the trench, and secures his captives.” Great numbers of both capercailzie and blackcock are taken in the forests of northern Europe by the aid of traps and snares. The former differ in form of construction with the district in which they are used. Deadfalls are in common use. They are either made in such a way as to allow one long heavy pole to fall on the bird, or seven or eight stout poles are battened together as they would be to form a door. A hole is cut in the upper end large enough for the main post or setting stick to pass up through as the flap of the trap falls. The figure-of-four form of release is that usually made use of. The illustrations at [page 663] will serve to show the arrangement when put together and the mode of notching the separate portions. Birch or beech wood makes excellent figure-of-four traps. Cowberries and other forest fruits are used as baits to strew in and about the traps. A very ingenious form of pen trap is also much used in the North for blackcock capture; it is called the “orre tratt,” and is thus constructed: A young pine of about 12ft. high is selected as the centre pole; all the branches are removed, and the top of a well-grown young spruce fir tree lashed in a reversed position to the pole about 4ft. from the ground; a crutch or fork is now fastened with cord to the head of the pole; within about 1ft. of the top in this crutch is lashed the tip stick, which is so tied as to act as a scale-beam or the see-saw used by boys; a bunch of wheat or other corn in the ear is secured to the extreme end of the main pole. When these arrangements have been made, a number of larch poles with the bark on are driven in round the main pole in funnel form, much as young trees are defended from the attacks of deer or rabbits in this country. The top of the funnel should be about 4ft., and the bottom about 20in. across. A few tough sticks or vines wattled in here and there give firmness and compactness to the structure. When this is complete, plant a few poles, with bunches of partly threshed oat or barley reed tied to their tops in such a way that a good foothold may be afforded to birds on cross branches left for the purpose, which should be near enough to the tip stick of the main pole for a blackcock to hop easily off when attracted by the bunch of wheat ears. The instant he settles on the tip stick it gives way, and allows him to drop down into the pen on the fir-branch frill in the centre, which instantly gives way under his weight, and lets him down to the bottom. Should he attempt to rise, the barb-like pine branches keep him down. The tip stick, having fallen back to its original position, is ready for a fresh victim, who quickly descends to join his fellow in the bottom of the pen, which has been known to become well filled during a short winter’s day.
Snares.
Snares may be made of annealed brass or copper wire, or of several strands of twisted horsehair. Twisted copper or brass wire makes excellent snares, but it must be very soft and pliable. Iron wire, when used as a makeshift for the two former descriptions of material, should be annealed before use: this process, which adds greatly to the pliability and tenacity of iron wire, is conducted as follows: Double your wire into a hank or bundle of convenient size; twist a loose rope made of dried grass or straw round it in all directions until the coil is completely covered; ignite the straw or hay band, and let it burn to ashes; let your wire cool gradually, and you will find it almost as pliant as a thong. The snoods, or “grains” as they are called, are best made from stout white horsehair, twisted by the aid of a half-opened pocket knife, as at Fig. 1, [page 598].
Immense numbers of these are made in some districts for the capture of snipes and woodcocks, and are used in a kind of trap known as a “springle.” As a ground trap for birds, it is, perhaps, the most remunerative that can be set; its form, when adjusted for use, is shown at the front of the full-page illustration, “[Traps for Small Game.]” Common hazel is the best material to make all the woodwork of a springle from. The annexed illustration shows the arrangement in a divided form. The parts consist of the riser A, the “sweik” B, the bow C, the hookpost D, and the button E. The riser line—a piece of stout twisted twine—the grains, and the button in place are shown at F. The riser should be planted so as to lay well back, in order that it may exercise its full power when in action. When setting this description of trap for snipes or woodcocks no bait is used.
A convenient spot is chosen on the ground in which they bore for food; and a roading is then made with small bent twigs, as in the annexed illustration, in extended V form. The sweik is set directly across the narrow pass, formed by the convergence of the two twig walls or hedges. No woodcock or snipe will ever pass out over the barrier formed by the bent twigs. Feeding and running onwards, they merely touch their beaks against the border hedge, work their way up the gradually narrowing passage, until the sweik, with its surrounding of grains or snare, is reached, when the head or feet of the bird, pressing down the former, releases the button from its hold on the notch. The riser flies up, and the neck, or some other portion of the body of the bird, is caught within the noose, which holds the game firmly against the bow, until strangled or taken out by the trapper. We have seen hundreds of springles set along the lines formed by the wheels of a waggon across an open stretch of plain or moorland. Water settling in these forms a sort of water road for snipes to run in. Two or three twigs on each side are all that will be needed at each trap, in such a favourable trapping ground as this. On an open flat or marsh meadow, 14ft. or 15ft. of twig roading will not be too much for each side or limb of the double or single V arrangement. Springles set for birds, requiring a bait such as fieldfares, blackbirds, missel thrushes, redwings, &c., should have their sweiks placed over shallow oval pits; hawthorn, paracanthus or cotoneaster berries, rotten apples, or ears of unthreshed wheat or barley make good baits for springles. Vast numbers of migratory birds of the thrush tribe are taken for the market on the Continent and in the north of Europe by the use of various forms of the “dona.” This is a trap made by either bending into half-hoop form a stick either growing or inserted in an auger hole bored in a tree. The string used to bend the bow, and form a head line for the hair nooses or snares, is usually made of bast obtained from the lime or linden tree; twine, or any other cord-like material, will answer the same purpose. Several forms of this kind of trap will be seen suspended from the trees in the full-page illustration, representing “[Traps for Small Game.]” A very excellent form of spring bow trap is made by bending a strong pliant hazel or other stick into the form shown in the annexed illustration. Bore a hole through one end with a red-hot wire; draw the snare or grains through the hole until the two ends of the bow closely approach each other, then force the end of the tread-fork (A), which must be cut to a truncated conical form, into the hole (B), until the grains is held by it in such a way that the force of the bow cannot draw it through the hole, and yet pressure on the tread-fork will displace it, and set the grains free to be drawn through the hole, unless the bird which has stepped on the fork is caught, in which case it is held, as shown in the full-page illustration. Larks, quails, finches, &c., are readily taken in snares, hung either from bows or stretched lines adjusted so as to hang just above the ground; several of these arrangements are shown in the full-page illustration. Chaff or grain should be scattered about traps of this kind, which answer best when snow is on the ground. A great number of both birds and small animals are to be taken in “cribbets:” these are pyramidal-shaped pens, or cages, built up by placing round, straight sticks, with the bark on, one on the other, just as a log house is built, only that cribbet sticks are not notched as logs are for building. When the cribbet is built to the required size and height for the description of game to be caught in it, a string at each corner, brought to the apex of the trap, gathered together in a knot, and made tight by twisting round a stick placed in the loop, makes all firm and compact. A piece of bent vine or briar serves to set the trap, which is arranged as shown in the full-page illustration.
Wild geese, ducks, widgeon, teal, water rails, coots, &c. &c., are taken readily by traps properly set for them. On the coasts of Finland and Lapland great numbers of wild geese are taken by forming a little fence or hurdle (which stands about breast high to a goose), on projecting points or spits of land which stretch out into the bays or harbours. Unbarked sticks, about the size of a common walking-stick, are thrust firmly into the ground, at about 10ft. or 12ft. apart, and then at every third or fourth stick a second is placed at about a foot from the other, forming, so to speak, a pair of gate posts, and in such a manner as to form an irregular line, completely surrounding the sea-line of the spit. A string or wire is now stretched tightly from stick to stick, only omitting the spaces left between the pairs of posts. These are left unfenced, and are each provided with a running noose, made of twisted hair or wire, which is secured to one of the posts. When the arrangement is complete, barn refuse is scattered inside the fence. The geese, coming in from the sea to feed, breast the fence, until an opening, formed by one of the gates, is found. This is quickly entered, and the noose, running in round the neck of the intruder, holds him fast. A sort of trap raft frame is much used for duck catching during winter in the north. Some short pieces of board serve to form the side and end floats of the raft. An upright post is set at each corner, and a top line is stretched round the heads of the side and end posts, as shown in the annexed illustration. Hair or wire nooses are set all round the duck raft, which is usually floated in a hole made in the ice; a quantity of water plants, pulled up by the roots, are thrown within the barriers. The ducks or other fowl, in endeavouring to force their way through the loops, are hung by the neck, and strangled.