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To those who catch foxes with steel traps, or who have had any acquaintance with these wary animals, it may seem ridiculous to try catching foxes in such crude contrivances. But it is a fact that the wire snare is one of the most successful traps ever devised for catching the sly animals. The snare is the favorite trap of many New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Maine fox trappers, ant occasionally we hear from a successful fox snarer from some other district. I have a friend in Nova Scotia who tells me of an Indian trapper who years where in the neighborhood season with snares.
Fox snares are usually made of the same grade of wire employed in snaring rabbits; but are from five to seven strands in thickness, lightly twisted. The wire portion which forms the noose should be about 32 inches long, so that a noose of eight or nine inches can be made and about six inches or a little more left for holding the hardwood sleeve which slides down against the fox's neck when the snare is sprung. To the end of the wire a heavy, hard twisted cord should be attached for tying and to prevent the wire being broken by twisting. Some snarers also connect the string and wire with a largest size fishing line swivel.
The places to use fox snares are on logs which cross streams too wide for a fox to jump, on game trails where foxes travel, or artificial trails leading to a large bait and prepared early in the year, on stock paths, and at openings in fences where foxes pass. Almost any place where a trap can be set "blind" a snare may be used equally well. On logs which span streams the most popular method is to drive a large nail or a staple into the side of the log and tie the snare to it, then make an axe cut in the top of the log and a little to one side, into which a small stick about 10 inches long is driven, the top split, and the snare fastened in the split. The noose, which should be eight or nine inches in diameter is held firmly above the log with its lower edge raised about seven inches, so that it will be directly in the way of the animal's head. When caught, the fox struggles violently, but soon falls off the log and dies. If there are standing brush by the side of the log the snare may be tied to a stout brush. There are other ways of snaring foxes on logs, but this way will answer satisfactorily in most cases.
On land many trappers cut a stout brush and plant it in the ground by the side of a trail. To this brush the snare is firmly attached and the noose is held over the path by means of a small split stick, the bottom of the loop about six or seven inches above the ground. It is always best to select a place where a few blades of dead grass hang over the trail and screen the wire slightly. When the fox draws the noose tightly about his neck he loosens the clog and his struggles drags it some distance. As a rule he soon gets badly entangled in the brush and strangles himself quickly; but sometimes he is fortunate enough to break the wires and escape. The cord is omitted from the snare when it is to be used in this way and is only used in spring-pole snares. Some fox snarers lay the brush clog on the ground and place it out of sight as much as possible. Others set their snares where clumps of brush stand close beside the trail and tie the snare to the nearest bush. In such cases they trust to the captured fox to become entangled in the standing brush. However, no mode of fastening is as reliable as the spring pole, and these more simple methods are used because they do away with a lot of bother, also because foxes are less apt to notice snares so fastened than those used with spring poles.
To use spring-pole snares successfully the trapper must cut his poles in summer and let them season thoroughly, for if green wood is used it will freeze in the Lent shape, or will become set after it has been under strain for a few days, and fail to spring high enough to do the work expected of it. The spring-pole is not expected to lift the fox off the ground, but merely to partly lift him, or to stretch the snare upward and offer a yielding strain against the animal's lunges. A short stick, notched as shown, is used for holding the pole down to a notched stake, and both stake and stick should be screened from direct view by placing them behind a tuft of grass or a small bush. Freshly cut wood should never be allowed to show plainly. When we hear of a man who is unusually successful in fox snaring we may be sure the cause is a close observance of these rules and not a secret method or a wonderful scent formula.
Scents, however, help in fox trapping if intelligently used and snaring foxes may sometimes be made more successful by placing a little scent near the trail in the neighborhood of the snare, but never close to it. I think that in general, however, the best results are obtained by tiding no lure whatever.
Snares, like steel traps, are most successful when kept clean, that is, free from foreign odors, other than those which will appear natural. This result may be accomplished by boiling the snares to remove odors and carrying them in a clean basket. Brass wire has a very strong odor of its own and many trappers who are expert in the use of snares prepare them for use by packing them in leaf mold for several days before using.
The spring-pole snare used for foxes will also catch and hold the lynx or wildcat. This brings to mind a peculiar incident which sounds so much like a "fairy talc" that I hesitate to tell of it, nevertheless it is absolutely true. One fall when I was trapping in Ontario, I placed a spring-pole fox snare on a moose trail near the shore of a lake. On approaching one day I saw that the snare and spring pole were missing, and on looking about 1 soon found a large lynx hanging by the neck from a branch of a small poplar tree. The captured animal had pulled up the pole and had climbed the tree where he had fallen over the branch and hanged himself. I reset the snare as before. On my next visit I found a second lynx hanging in the same tree, having pulled up the pole, climbed the tree and hanged himself in precisely the same manner as the first; in fact, I believe he had fallen over the same branch. What is even more strange, the skins of both animals, when stretched were almost exactly the same size. Those were not the only lynx that I have caught in snares set for foxes; but the real lynx snare is something entirely different and is made in the following manner.
Fur, News. Fur News, January 1916.
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