The American Boy's Handy Book/Chapter 23

Summer is over. Again the air becomes cooler. The straw hats are discarded, so also are the linen suits; we begin to look up heavier clothing, for although the sun still shines brightly, the nights are growing chill. Even at midday we no longer seek the shady side of the streets or roadways.

In the woods all the little inhabitants are preparing for the approaching winter. Backward and forward, from the beech tree to his nest under the wood-pile, runs the nimble little brown-coated, striped-back chipmunk, each trip adding to the pile of beech nuts secreted in the storehouse of this provident little fellow. Scampering along the top rail of the fence the gray squirrel may be seen, also busily engaged in laying up a supply of winter stores. The birds are gathering in large flocks, with noisy twitterings and excited flutterings, preparatory to their yearly pilgrimage to the Sunny South. The bouncing hare is thinking of discarding its summer coat of brown and donning its white winter furs. The leaves of the ivy vines shine like red fire wreathed around the tree trunks. All nature seems busy going through a transformation scene—an air of preparation is visible everywhere.

The reports of the sportsmen's guns may be heard, and their dogs may be seen in the stubble-fields manœuvreing like well​drilled soldiers promptly obeying every command of their masters.

And far and wide—in the cold Northern regions, in the pine woods of Maine, in the Rocky Mountains of the West—the hardy trappers are busy collecting their traps and making preparations, or are already engaged in their annual campaign against all fur-bearing animals.

In order that my reader may not be behind the season, this chapter is devoted to the description of a few simple but effective traps and snares, such as may be made of the material always at hand, with the aid of a pocket-knife, hatchet, or other tools within the reach of boys.

We have in North America more than fifty kinds of rats and mice, the largest of which is the muskrat. Next in size comes the great, ugly brown rat.

More than three hundred years ago the black rat found its way from Europe to this country, settled here with our ancestors, and, like them, increased and prospered. The black rat is rather a neater and prettier animal than the now omnipresent Norway brown rat. The latter is of Asiatic origin, and appears to have made its way to this country since the advent of the black rat, which it has supplanted and almost exterminated. The roof rat in the Southern States came originally from Egypt, and the little brown mouse that creates so much mischief in our closets is of Asiatic parentage. All rats may be caught in traps, and for an amateur trapper the house rat is a good subject to practice on. By no means a fool among animals, possessing a due regard for his own safety, and looking with suspicion upon most traps, the Norway brown rat is not so easily caught as one who has never baited a "figure four" might suppose. A very successful way to capture house rats ​is to carefully close all the doors of the kitchen, barn, or room infested with them, and after removing all small objects from the floor, bait each hole with crumbs of meal and cheese; over the holes place little doors made of tin or wire, hung on with strings or screw-eyes, these doors open but one way and are so arranged that the rat can easily push the door open from the inside, but as soon as the animal makes its appearance in the room the door falls back into place, thus cutting off all retreat. In a short time the room will be overrun with rats, and if allowed to remain undisturbed for a few hours they will all escape through new holes made by their sharp teeth; if a terrier dog or a few cats be let into the room, not many rats will live to tell the tale of the massacre.

Over the top of an earthenware jar fasten a piece of writing Image missingFig. 136.A Mouse Trap. ​paper, tightly binding it with a string or elastic band. In the centre of the paper cut a cross as shown in the illustration (Fig. 136). Set the jar in the closet and suspend by a string a piece of toasted cheese over the centre of the jar. If there are any mice in the closet the bait will attract them, but just as soon as the first mouse reaches the centre of the paper he will drop into the jar, and the paper will fly back in place again ready for the next comer. A trap arranged in the same manner can be used for the capture of field mice, shrews, and harvest mice, some of which make odd and amusing pets. All of these pretty little animals may be found in the fields or under brush heaps in the clearings. A barrel covered with stiff brown paper can be used for common rats, but they will gnaw out unless the barrel be partly filled with water.

An old earthenware jug with a small hole knocked in the upper part may be utilized as a trap for small burrowing animals. Bury the jug in the earth (Fig. 137) near the haunts of the animal you are after; then arrange an artificial burrow extending from the surface of the ground to the hole in the broken jug; strew appropriate bait along the passageway, and although the little creatures might hesitate to enter a broken jug above ​ground, they are said to have no fear of one beneath the sod, and either jump or fall inside, where they may be allowed to remain some time with no fear of their escaping.

The jug trap is only suitable for small animals.

Moles are, generally speaking, harmless creatures who render the farmer a great service by devouring immense quantities of grubs and larvæ; but when one of these little animals finds its way under the sod of the lawn it plays sad havoc with the looks of the grass, furrowing the surface with ridges, and marring the appearance by dirt hills.

From the fact that the mole travels under ground, I have spent considerable time in trying to find a trap to catch this subterranean animal. Among we boys that lived in the valley of the Ohio River, a mole skin was highly prized as a sort of Image missingFig. 138.Construction of the Figure Four. fetich that, when used as a "knuckle dabster" to rest our hands on in a game of marbles, not only prevented our hands from becoming soiled—which was no great matter—but also insured good luck to the happy boy who possessed a knuckle dabster made of a mole skin. There are but very few animals that can boast of fur as soft and fine as that which covers the back of the common mole.

A mole trap can be made in the old reliable figure four style, with which most of my readers are no doubt familiar.

is made of three sticks; a catch-stick, A, an upright, B, and a trigger, C (Fig. 138). When these sticks are set in the position shown by the diagram, and a weight allowed to rest on the top of the catch, A, the sticks will keep their positions and support the weight until the trigger, C, is touched.

At the slightest derangement of the trigger all the sticks fall, and the weight above, being left without a support, instantly drops to the ground. This trap has been ingeniously adapted to the purpose of a

A heavy weight is fastened on a piece of plank or board for a deadfall; in the centre of the board some sharp-pointed spikes or nails are driven, so that the pointed ends extend several inches below the deadfall (see Fig. 139). This trap should be set over a fresh mole-way, no bait need be used.

First press down the loose earth in a line across the ridge, then set the trap with a figure four, allowing the trigger-stick to rest in the place where you have pressed down the earth across ​the mole hill. The trap should be so arranged that the sharp spikes will be directly over the hill. The next time the mole makes his way through the underground passage he will sooner or later come to the place where the earth has been pressed down to make room for the trigger.

When the little animal reaches this point and proceeds to loosen the earth again, the movement will displace the trigger and bring the dead weight down, pinioning the mole to the ground with the sharp spikes, to which the loose earth of the mole hill offers but little resistance, if the weight be heavy enough. If the skin of the animal be desired, it is best to use as few spikes as practicable, for the fewer holes there are in a pelt the more valuable it is.

I object to deadfalls on principle, and it is not without some reluctance that I include them among the traps. As a boy, the only traps I ever used were made for capturing animals alive; but there are occasions when it is perfectly proper to use a deadfall. If the animal sought is a nuisance upon whose extermination you have settled for good reasons, then use a deadfall, or if you desire the animal for food and have no other means of capturing him, the deadfall is very convenient. Supposing your supply of fresh meat has run short at camp, or that you are on a canoe trip and are placed under similar circumstances, if there be a rabbit or squirrel in the neighborhood no one will find fault with you for trying to capture the game by any means in your power.

is so called either from its resemblance to a toll-gate, or from the fact of its being set across the top of a rail fence, which has been called the "squirrel's highway." This trap can be made in a few minutes with the aid of a pocket-knife and a hatchet. The toll-gate is a deadfall, and the little traveller pays the toll ​with his life. With your hatchet cut a forked stick and drive it in the ground a few feet from the fence; rest one end of a plank on this forked stick and allow the other end to protrude some distance beyond the opposite side of the fence. Select a heavy stick for the deadfall, and a very much smaller stick for the trigger; near the end of the trigger cut a notch for the catch-stick to rest in. Sharpen the ends of two small forked sticks and drive them into splits made near the ends of the board with the corner of the hatchet. Lay a cross piece from one forked stick to the other, and with a bit of string or vegetable fibre suspend the catch-stick from the centre of the cross stick. Tie the inside end of the trigger loosely to the deadfall, and adjust the trap so that when the end of the deadfall rests upon the catch-stick the latter will hold the trigger an inch or so Image missingFig. 140.Toll-gate Trap. above the plank. To prevent the trap from swaying and to guide the deadfall in the proper direction, two upright guidesticks should be erected (Fig. 140). The weight of a squirrel's foot upon the bottom bar slips it from the catch-stick and down comes the deadfall upon the shoulders of the victim.

This same style of trap may be made upon a much larger ​scale and set on logs or trees that have fallen across a watercourse and are used as a bridge by minks, 'coons, or other animals. The forked sticks supporting the end of the plank must in this case be driven into the bed of the creek, and a plank twenty feet long substituted for the short one used in the trap designed for squirrels.

To be a successful trapper a boy must be a keen observer of the habits of the game; by this means he will soon learn to take advantage of the very means designed by Nature as a protection for her creatures. For instance, the partridges are not good flyers, but their unobtrusive coats mingle and blend so closely with the stubble as to take a sharp eye to detect their presence; hence we find that these birds are loth to take to the wing, but will run along any slight obstruction they meet, poking their heads about to find an outlet, apparently never once thinking of surmounting both the difficulty and the obstruction by using their wings. The "down East" Yankee boys are thoroughly acquainted with the habits of the partridge, and catch a great many of them by building little hedges like the one in the illustration entitled

The snare in this case consists of a slip-noose made of string. Make a bow-line knot (Fig. 58, diagram XIII., described on page 76) in one end of a piece of common string or fish line; slip the other end of the string through the loop and make the free end fast to the top of an arch made of a bent stick (see Fig. 141). In a semi-circular form, around some feeding ground, build a low fence of sticks, brush or stones, leaving openings at intervals only large enough to fit in arched gateways. Make an arch for each opening and arrange a slip-noose in each archway; spread the loops apart and keep them in this position by catching the strings slightly into notches made upon the outside of ​the arch (see Fig. 141). The birds, when they seek their accustomed feeding place, will walk into the semi-circle, and in searching for an outlet they will go poking their heads about until they come to an archway; here they thrust their heads through the slip-noose, and as, instead of backing out, Image missingFig. 141.The Partridge Snare. a partridge will try to force its way through, the noose tightens and holds the bird a prisoner. Sometimes the youthful trapper will find the lifeless body of a rabbit with the fatal noose around its neck, and often he will miss one or two of his arches that have been uprooted and carried away by large game becoming entangled, and walking off, carrying arch, noose, and all with them. This partridge snare will also catch quail or prairie chickens.

Snares when used for catching birds alive should be closely watched; which will not only prevent the captured wild birds from beating themselves to death, but will save them from suffering any more pain than is absolutely necessary.

​Select a smooth piece of ground and drive two stakes; to these attach a long cord, allowing it to stretch loosely upon the ground from one stake to the other. At intervals along the line fasten strong horse-hair nooses (Fig. 142). Sprinkle food Image missingFig. 142.Set-Line Snares. around and retire out of sight to watch. When the birds discover the food they will collect around it, and some one of them is almost certain to become entangled in one of the snares. As soon as a bird is snared it should be disentangled and put into a covered basket or a paper bag; pin-holes may be made in the bag to allow the air to enter. In this way birds may be carried home without injury; being in the dark they are not likely to hurt or disfigure themselves by struggling for their liberty. A cage is not only an awkward, unwieldy contrivance to carry in the field, but is objectionable from the fact that a wild bird caught and thrust into a cage will bruise its head and wings badly by striking against the bars in the efforts it makes to escape. Paper bags, pasteboard boxes, or covered baskets will do to carry home captured wild birds in.

Make a low arch by pointing both ends of a stick and forcing them into the ground. Cut a switch and bend it into the form of a lawn tennis racket, and with a string fasten the small end of the switch to the part that answers to the handle of the ​bat or racket; just beyond the point where the small end terminates cut a notch in the large part or handle for the catch-stick to fit in. Make a short stick, with one end wedge-shaped, for a catch-stick. Drive a peg at such a distance in front of the arch that when the loop of the spreader is slipped over the peg the notch on the butt end will come just far enough to allow the catch-stick to hold it, as in Fig. 143. For a spring use an elastic young sapling. After stripping off the leaves Image missing and branches, attach a line to the top, tie the other end of the line to the catch-stick, and just above the cross stick fasten one end of a slip-noose to the line. To set the snare, bend the sapling until you can pass the catch-stick under the bender or arch, Figs. 143, 144. Raise the spreader from the ground about an inch; let the catch-stick hold it in this position, and spread the slip-noose over the loop-stick; your trap is now ready. To attract the birds, scatter some appropriate bait inside and very little outside. The birds will follow the trail of food up to the stretcher, and seeing the bait inside will hop upon the stretcher preparatory to going within. The stretcher, being only supported by friction where it bears against the ​catch and peg, will drop under the weight of a very small bird. The catch loosened slips out from under the bender, and the spring flying suddenly back draws the slip-noose around the wing, legs, or neck of the unfortunate bird. Unless speedily released by the trapper the bird will strangle or beat itself to death against the ground, or any objects within reach. All snares should be watched if the birds are wanted alive.

This rustic trap is sometimes set with an ordinary figure four (Fig. 138) by the colored people down South, and with it they catch a great many wild ducks and other water fowl.

The coop is made of sticks piled up after the manner of a log cabin (Fig. 145). To one of the bottom sticks a withe, made of a green wand,^[1] is attached; the other end is then brought over the top of the trap and attached to the bottom stick upon the opposite side. The withe is tightened by forcing sticks under it at the top of the coop. When all is taut the sticks keep their positions, and unless very roughly used ​will not slip out. Fig. 146 shows another manner of setting the hen-coop trap, by fastening a piece of willow or any other similar wood by two strings or withes to one end of the coop, so as to allow considerable freedom of motion to the semi-circular arch formed by the willow, which should be small enough Image missingFig. 146.Hen-Coop Trap. and bent in such a manner that all parts of the arch will come inside the coop. Take two forked sticks and make the straight part of one of such a length that it might support one end of the coop. Cut one of the forks off the second stick and leave about two inches of the other fork on (see B, Fig. 146). Make B about an inch shorter than A (Fig. 146). Raise the side of the coop, thrusting the crook on the end of B through the fork on the end of A, slip the crook under the edge of the coop, and push the bottom of B back inside of the willow, lifting the latter high enough to bear on the stick B and hold it in position. A will rest outside the coop, as in the illustration. A bird hopping upon the willow wand will cause it to slip down; this will displace the stick A, loosen the catch, and down comes the coop, enclosing the bird. A rustic trap of this description can be made without the aid of any other tools than a hatchet or a knife for cutting the sticks.