Fox Trapping - 1909

 Fox - E. Kreps

The various members of the fox family are
found in almost all parts of the world but
are most abundant in the Northern Hemisphere.
There are many species and varieties,
but it is those of North America that are
of the most interest to the trapper.
Those found on this continent are the red,
the gray, the kit and Arctic foxes, and there are
a nu.mber of varieties of the red and gray species.
The black, silver and cross foxes are supposed
to be only color varieties of the red, but
why this occurs, and only in the North, is a mystery.
The Silver Or Black fox is the most beautiful
and most valuable of all the foxes. It is
found in the high, northern latitudes of both
continents. In this country, it is found as far
south as the northern tier of states. They are
most abundant in the interior of Alaska, the
Northwest Territories, Ontario, Northern Quebec,
Labrador and Newfoundland.

At the London fur sales, specimens have
been sold at over one thousand dollars each, but
the average price is probably about two hundred
dollars. / Wherever the Silver fox fs found, the
Cross or Patch fox is found also, and they also
range somewhat farther south. They are always
found in greater numbers than the Silver variety.

The Red fox is the most common and is distributed
over a larger territory than the other
varieties. They range from the northern timber
line, to well down in the Southern States. They
are probably most abundant in the Eastern provinces
of Canada and the England States, but they
are found in fair numbers in parts of New York,
Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Tennessee, Arkan~
s, Missouri, Michigan and the larger part of
Canada and Alaska.

The Gray fox is one of the least valuable,
and is most abundant in the Southern States.;
In the East they range as far north as Connecticut.
In some places they have supplanted the
Red species, and in other places the grays have'
disappeared and the reds have taken their place.
The fox, as well as t~e wolf and coyote, belongs
to the dog family, which is second, only
to man in intelligence.' The different species are
all practically the same size, but the same varieties
vary in size in different localities. The average
weight is from nine to ten pounds. In
general appearance they somewhat resemble the
dog, being rather light of build, considering their
height. The ears are erect and pointed, the tail
thick· and bushy, and the muzzle small and
pointed. The fur varies in the different species,
being coarse and rather short on the Gray, while
th,t of the Silver fox is extremely fine and filoft.
), The mating season comes in February, and
the young are born usually in April, there being
from four to nine in a litter. They make dens
in the sand hills and in rocky districts, den in
tbe rocks. Except during the breeding season
they spend very little time in the dens, but lie
during the day in some clump of brush or weeds,
or often on top of a stump or log. In mountainous
sections they lie during the day, somewhere
on the mountain side and come down into the
valleys at night in search of food.

The fox is not strictly a carnivorous animal.
When food is scarce they often feed. on apples
and other fruits, but their regular food is flesh.
They are fond of partridge, rabbits, mice, skunk,
muskrat or opossum flesh, carrion of almost all
kinds, fish, eggs, poultry, and often they come
around the camps and gather up the scraps,
bread, bacon rinds etc. If they are given time
and not disturbed they become quite bold in
coming to such places for food and the trappers
sometime take advantage of this peculiarity by
baiting them awhile before setting the trap.
The fox in the North becomes prime in the
beginning of November and remains in good condition
until the middle of March, when the fur begins
to take on a rubbed and woolly appearance.
In the South -they do not become prime until the
last of November or the beginning of December
and go out of prime in February. Most of the
foxes are trapped in the fall before the ground
freezes too hard for dry sets, and of course, many
of them are not prime.

The traps recommended for the fox, for dry
land use are the Nos. 2 and 3 Oneida Jump and
Blake & Lamb, the l! Newhouse and Hawley &
Norton and the No.2 Victor. For water and
snow trapping, the Nos. 3 and 4 Oneida Jump
and Blake & Lamb, and the 2l! and 3l! Newhouse
will be found most desirable.
In places where there are springs and small
streams, there is no better method than the old
water set, which is made as follows: It is best
to find a spring which does not freeze, but for
early fall trapping a b~ook will do. The rise
and fall of the water in small streams sometimes
makes trouble, and a sprinll or small pond gives
best results. The spring should be at least four
feet in diameter and should be prepared for the
set in the summer, but if care is used, may be
fixed up during the trapping season. A moss
covered stone, or a sod (according to'surroundings)
should be placed about a foot and a half
from shore, and should riee about two or three
inches above the water. This is the bait sod.
Water Set for Fox.

The trap is set half way between the sod and the
shore, and the jaws, springs and chain should be
covered with mud, or whatever is found in the
bottom of the spring.

The pan of the trap should just be covered
with water. Now take a nice piece of moss or
sod and place it on the pan of the trap, so that it
will rise an inch above the water. When properly
placed, this sod will look natural and will,
apparently be a safe stepping place for the fox.
The pan should be so adjusted that it will not
spring too easily. A small piec« of bait and also
some scent should be placed on th~ 'larger sod.
In making this set you should wade up the
outlet of the spring, and stand in the water while
making the set. Do not touch the bank or any
of the surroundings. The trap should be fitted
with a chain about three feet in length, with a
two prong drag attached, but most trapper~ sim"
p~y wire a stone of eight or ten pounds weight to
the end of the chain. The drag, whatever is
used, ·should be buried in the bed of the spring.
I recommend the flesh of the muskrat,
skunk, opossum or house-cat for bait, and it
should be allowed to taint by remaining about a
week in a glass jar. This method was first used
by William Schofield a famous fox trapper of the
Eastern states. ·Two men have been known to
catch over one hundred foxes in a season with
this method, besides considerable other furs
taken in the same traps, for the method is good
for many other animals besides the fox.
One trapper recommends setting the trap
in ('xactly the same manner, except that the bait
slld is omitted, and the bait, a bird, is fastened
by means of a stick thrust in the bottom of the
spring. The stick must be entirely out of sight,
and the bird, apparently, 1l0ating in the water.
Both of these methods are very good, and are
especially recommended for the novice, as they
are the easiest and surest methods to start on.
The water sets given above, can of course,
only be used in certain places, for in some of the
best fox countries, springs cannot be found, and
even the streams are not suitable for trapping.
For this reason many professional fox trappers
prefer to use dry land sets, and the blind set will
be found to be one of the very best.
Look for fox tracks in old stock trails, foot
paths, old roads in the woods, openings under
fences, etc., and having first cleaned the traps by
boiling or washing, find a narrow place in the
trail and dig out a nest for the trap. Make this
nest so that when the trap is set in it, the jaws
will lie lengthwise of the trail. Line this nest
. with dry grass or leaves, and having attached
the trap to some sort of a drag, set it and place
it in the place prepared. Fill in all around the
outside of the jaws with dry dirt, and cover the
springs. Now lay a piece of clean paper over
the trap and cover all with about one-fourth
inch of dirt, making it look like the other parts
of the trail as much as possible. The chain and
drag must be carefully concealed.

It is best to have a basket or piece of canvas
in which to place the dirt while making the set
and to carry away what is not needed. Do not
spit near the trap, and do not leave any · signs
of your presence. I t is not necessary to wear
gloves, but the hands should be kept clean. This
is nn excellent method, especially for the old, sly
animals.

Dry Land Set for Fox.

The professional trappers of the East use
the bait method, mostly, and although the different
trappers use different baits and scents, the
methods of setting the traps are all, practically
the same. The following directions are almost the
same as you will get when you buy a method at
from $1.00 to $5.00 or more. Prepare your bait
about a week before you want to set the traps,
by cutting into pieces about half the size of an
pgg, and placing in a clean jar to become tainted.
Put a little bit of scent on each bait before placing
in jar. There are different ways for preparing
the traps; most trappers prefer to boil them
in hemlock boughs, or lay them over night in
running water. Wear clean gloves when handling
the traps and carry them in a clean basket.
Now find an old stump or a rock along some hill·
side, and dig a hole under it making the hole four
or five inches in diameter and ten or twelve
inches deep. Stake the trap solid, driving stake
out of sight, and set the trap about ten inches
in front of the hole. Cover the trap :first with
a piece of clean paper and finish by about onefourth
inch of dirt dug out of the hole. It should
look as if some animal had dug the hole and
f'cratched the dirt out in front. Use a small
Hhovel made for the purpose, or a sharpened
~tick to dig the hole, and keep your gloves
on all the time. Do. not .walk airound, but
stand in the same spot until the set is com-plete.
Now put a piece of bait in the back
of the hole, using a sharpened stick to handle
the bait and put just a little scent by the side
of the hole. When you catch a fox, kill him
without drawing blood, and set the trap back in
the same place. Your chances for catching another
fox are doubled. Skunks, coons and other
animals wiIi also be caught in these sets.
The following method is a good one to use
in settled countries, as it is not so likely to catch
dogs and other animals, as other methods are.
Find an ant-hill, a small, pointed knoll, an old
rotten stump, a moss covered rock,or an old
log with one end off the ground. Set the trap
on the highest point, covering carefully, so that .
it looks just like it did before the trap was set.
Place a fair sized bait, such as a skunk or muskrat
about eight feet away from the trap. The
fox is always suspicious of a bait, especially a
large one, and will always get on the highest
point to look at it before going close. Of course,
there must be no other place for him to get up
on, near the bait. In the winter, traps may be
set on muskrat houses, and bait placed on the
ice. I think it best to set the traps several days
before placing the baits, as in that way the
human and other scents have a chance to pass
away. When baiting, go just close enough to
throw the bait into place.

Some trappers set traps around large baits,
such as the carcass of a horse, cow or sheep,
but I think it best to place the bait by the side
of -a trail and set several traps on the trail from
thirty to seventy five yards from the bait. When
feeding on the bait the foxes will travel on the
trail, and they will not be looking for danger so
far away from the bait.

Comparatively few of the professional fox
trappers can trap the fox successfully after the
deep snow come on; but the following methods
are the best known, and will catch the fox if you
use care in setting. Of course, snow sets of any
kind can only be used when the snow is dry and
loose and likely to remain in that condition for
some time.

The first method given is the one used by
the Canadian Indians, for taking the silver fox
in the great northern wilderness. Out on the ice
on some frozen lake, or on any open, wind swept
piece of ground, make a cone-shaped mound of
snow, beating it solid, so that it will not drift
away. The trap should. be fastened to a clog,
and the clog buried in the mound. Make the
mound about two feet high, and make a hollow
in the top for the trap to set in. The hollow
should be lined with cat-tail down, or some other
dry material, and the trap set in the hollow and
covered first with a sheet of white note paper,
finishing with a half inch or more of loose snow.
Do not handle this snow with your hands, for if
you do it will be certain to freeze on the trap.
The best way is to take a bunch of evergreen
boughs, and brush the snow up over the mound
so that it sifts lightly over the trap. The covering
on the trap should be a little lower than
the top of the mound so that the wind will not
uncover the trap. The bait is cut into small
pieces and stuck into the sides of the mound.
After the trap is set it will only require a
short time for the wind to drift your tracks shut
and remove all traces of human presence, and
the trap will remain in working order as long
as the cold weather lasts. If water rises on the
ice it will not reach your trap, and if there is a
snow storm, the first wind will blow the loose
snow off the mound, leaving just a little over
the trap. When looking at the traps you should
not go nearer than fifty yards, and do not turn
off your route, but walk straight by. This is a
splendid method for use in the far north where
the snow never melts or freezes during the winter
months.

For use in the settled countries I have been
very successful with this method .. Find where
foxes travel on old wood roads and with your
traps clean, and with drags attached, go and
break a trail in the snow by walking back and
forth on the road, and set the traps in this
broken trail without bait. The traps should be
set and covered, as in the other method, and
the chain and clog pushed under the bow at the
side of the traiJ. Do not let it appear that you
have stopped at all, and when looking at the
traps you can follow the trail and step right over
the traps. In settled localities, the fox will follow
the trail because the walking is better, but in
the wilderness wherE the track of a man is seldom
seen, they not only refuse to follow the
trail, but often will not even cross it.
I believe that scent is more used for foxtrapping
than for trapping any other animal.
Some of the best trappers, however, do not use
any scent at all, but I believe that if the right
kind is used, that it is a great help. One of the
best scents known for dry land or water sets is
prepared as follows: Remove the fat from one
Of two skunks, chop it fine, and take a sufficient
quantity to almost fill an ordinary pickle bottle.
Take two mice; cut them up and add to the fat
and let the bottle stand in the sun until the mixture
is thoroughly decomposed; then add the
scent of two skunks and five or six muskrats.
The bottle must be kept covered so the flies will
not blow it, but it must not be tightly corked,
Different trappers have different ways of prepa:,ing
this scent, but I think this way is the best.
Another very good one is made by allowing
the flesh of a muskrat to rot in a bottle, and adding
about four ounces of strained honey and onehalt
ounce of eesence of musk.

Pure fish oil is attractive to the fox, and is
used by some very good trappers. We believe
that one of the most successful scents, especially
tor winter use is made by taking the generative
organs of the female fox, when in heat and preserving
it in alcohol. The urine of the fox is
also good, but in using these two scents, no bait
should be used.

The brine from mackerel or other fish is
claimed to be a good scent for foxes, but if there
are any porcupines, or snow-shoe rabbits about,
it will make plenty of trouble as the salt is very
attractive to these animals.

When making blind-sets, or when setting on
a trail some distance from a bait, do not stake
your traps, but fasten to a drag of some kind:
a brush, a stone or a grapple. By so doing the
fox will not spoil the trail for the next one, and
the trap may be set back in the same place. For
a bait set on dry land, the trap may be staked to
advantage, for if one fox is caught and rolls
around over the ground, you are more likely to
'catch another one there.

Do not start out with a dozen traps and expect
to make a success of fox trapping. You
should have all the traps that you can look after.
Do not depend on one method of setting, as
a fox will sometimes learn your method, but
some other method, even if it is not so good, may
fool them.

When killing foxes in traps, do so, if possible
without drawing blood. One of the best
ways is by piercing the heart with" a wire dagger.
Another good way is by breaking the neck,
which may be done as follows: Strike the fox a
light blow over the head with a stick, just hard
enough to slightly stun him, and when he drops
down, place your left hand on the back of his
neck, pinning him to the ground and with your
right hand pull his nose backward against his
back. It requires some practice to do this right.
The track of the red fox resembles that of a
small dog, being perhaps a trifle narrower. The
length of step is about twelve or fourteen inches,
and the foot prints of an average sized fox will
measure about one and a half inches in length.
The track of the gray fox is rounder and
more like that of a cat.

Some hunters claim that they can distinguish
the track of the male fox from that of the
female, the footprints of the female being smaller
and a trifle narrower in proportion.
There is no difference in the footprints of
the black, silver, cross and red foxes.


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