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(Posted for May-June 2005)
Above Water Below Freezing
by Hal Sullivan
(This article first appeared in "The Trapper" March 1991)
 The
snow started about noon as the weather forecast had predicted. My son and
I were trying to lay out a muskrat line along a small creek. Earlier in
the day, we had done our scouting, which proved to be a wise decision. By
two o'clock everything that was not water was covered with wet, heavy
snow. This included the rotten log, on which we had found three mink scats
and had discretely concealed a trap a few hours before.
The
storm front had ushered in unforeseen colder temperatures - the
thermometer stood at 20 degrees the next morning. Our water sets were all
frozen in and empty. But anticipation was high when we a saw a set of
fresh mink tracks headed directly toward the log. The mink jumped up on
the log, stepped in our trap, and walked off the other end. We had to use
a trowel to pry the trap from its frozen bed.
Traps
that are in direct contact with frozen earth, or any other solid frozen
material, will not fire properly, if at all. It is possible that a strong
trap which is only partially frozen down will fire and make a catch, but
the odds are against it. Traps are designed to work with all parts moving
freely. Say for example, only the loose jaw of the trap is frozen down.
When the trap fires, it will roll in the direction of the frozen jaw. If
the power jaw is frozen down the trap won't fire at all. The same rolling
effect could occur on a coilspring trap if one lever was frozen down.
Bodygrip traps fare no better if they are glued to the earth by frozen
water.
The
problem of freeze down in dryland sets falls into three general
categories. With foothold traps, there are two classes of sets, the buried
trap and the open trap. Buried traps are those that are completely covered
and encased in dirt or other fine grained material. Open traps are those
that are not buried in a covering, although they are usually camouflaged
in some way. Bodygrip traps, because they function differently, form a
third class of dryland traps that may need freeze proofing.
Let's
take the high ground first and talk about buried traps. The most common
covering for a land trap is moist earth. When the temperatures dip below
freezing, this moisture combines with the dirt to form a very effective
natural cement. Though traps may come up through a light crust, the
freezing dirt will effectively increase the pan tension and the trap may
not fire. If it does fire, the crust of dirt can carry the animal's foot
out of the trap, or frozen clods could block the jaws open.
The
common cure for this is to mix salt or calcium chloride with the moist
dirt. The salt will be absorbed and keep the dirt from freezing so
quickly. It works the same way when it is applied to icy and snowy
highways in the wintertime. The main objection to using salt or chloride
is its corrosive nature. It will cause severe rusting in untreated traps,
or traps that have lost their coatings due to a catch. Propylene glycol is
a colorless, odorless liquid that can be sprayed on trap beds to
antifreeze them. It is more expensive and slightly harder to find, but it
does not rust traps.
Another
way to keep buried traps from freezing in is to use a covering that has no
moisture. Under the conditions of an extended freeze, traps can be bedded
in dry dirt or other dry material and will remain operational. However, if
the temperatures rise above freezing, the material will soak up moisture
from the surrounding earth and again be subject to freezing.
Under
these conditions, it is a good idea to note what type of exposure your
sets have to direct sunlight. Traps set in shaded areas will not thaw out
as fast as traps set in sunny locations, especially on a south facing
slope. Sets on a south facing slope may thaw and melt as exposed dirt
absorbs the heat from the sunshine. On days of intense sunlight, this
thawing can occur even though the ambient temperature does not rise above
freezing. At the same time, sets made on a north slope in the shade will
not thaw until warm air hits them. Most trappers mix salt or chloride with
their dry dirt as a precautionary measure.
Other
products are available on the market that have the properties of resisting
and repelling moisture, which keeps them relatively freeze proof.
Buckwheat hulls have been around for a while. These hulls will not readily
freeze even when exposed to rain, because they don't readily absorb water.
A new product on the market is freeze proof dirt. This dirt is treated
with an odorless chemical that makes it water repellent. When using either
of these products, the trap bed should be lined with the freeze proof
material to keep the trap away from the damp earth.
It's
plain to see that a trap can't fire if the covering is frozen over it, but
traps that have little or no covering at all can freeze in just as well. A
few blades of grass or a couple of leaves are sufficient to hide a trap
for less wary critters. These traps rarely get frozen down by their sparse
coverings, but they can easily freeze down in their beds
It's
obvious that you can't set a trap in mud during freezing weather. But
traps set on drier ground can suffer from freeze down too. As it was noted
for buried traps, any trap bed that has an appreciable amount of moisture
is subject to freezing. Again, it would be possible in some instances to
use salt or chloride to keep the trap bed from freezing, even though the
trap itself was not covered with dirt.
However,
it really doesn't make any difference if the trap bed freezes on an open
trap, and since there is nothing above the trap that freezing will hurt
these sets can usually be made without anti-freeze chemicals. But it does
take a little extra care and attention to bed a trap under these
conditions. If any moving parts of the trap are in contact with material
that will freeze into a solid mass, the trap is not going to function
properly.
When
the weather is fair, you can just nestle a trap in the dirt to bed it.
That is basically what I had done with my mink trap in the beginning of
this discussion. I had pushed it down into the moist rotten wood chips
that I had chiseled from the log. The subfreezing cold encased my trap in
petrified wood.
The
easiest way to freeze proof an open trap is to insulate it from the
bedding material. When I replaced the mink trap, I used coarse dry grass
to line the bed. This held the wet wood chips away from the trap. Coarse
dry material like weeds and grass are good for lining a trap bed in
freezing weather because they hold the trap away from the bed and also
allow some drainage in the case of wet weather.
You
can also use leaves and other nonabsorbent material (even plastic) to line
a trap bed. This is another place you might use some freeze proof products
mentioned earlier. The trap may freeze to these materials somewhat but it
will usually break free easily.
Bedding
an open trap for freezing weather is a little tricky because you don't
have the option of packing gobs of dirt here and there to stabilize the
trap. For these traps, the bed should be dug just slightly larger than the
trap so the jaws and springs of the trap are not too tightly pressed
against the sides of the bed. The trap must be stabilized underneath with
hard packed dirt, sticks, stones or other hard solid objects; and all
loose, freezable material must be removed from the bed or covered with a
non absorbent material. The trap is placed in the clean or lined bed, and
more of the non-absorbent material is used to insulate any other parts of
the trap that are in contact with the ground.
A
bodygrip trap set on land during freezing weather also needs special
attention. It doesn't take much of a freeze to knock out a bodygrip trap
with its bottom jaws stuck in the dirt. You know how easy it is to hold a
bodygrip open while you're setting it. That's how easy it is for frozen
dirt to hold the trap open when it should be firing. Bodygrip traps set
during freezing weather should not come in direct contact with the ground.
It is
especially important to note this on the style of bodygrip trap that has
the outside humps on the corner of the jaw. Because these humps stick down
below the jaw, they are prone to settle into the dirt or mud and inhibit
the action of the trap.
The
simplest method to keep a bodygrip from freezing down is to place a couple
of smooth round sticks under the trap. This will make the trap slightly
harder to stabilize, but when the trap fires it will slip off the sticks
and not be stuck in the frozen ground. There are stabilizing devices
available that will hold the jaws of a bodygrip off the ground. One type
clamps between the bottom jaws and is attached to a spike or other solid
object. It can be adjusted to give some ground clearance. Other
stabilizers or wedges can be used through the coil of the springs to hold
the trap to a solid stake with its base above the ground.
As
long as trapping seasons are set to correspond to pelt primness, which
occurs in the colder months of the year, freeze down is going to be a
common problem for trappers. During the trapping season, you are likely to
experience weather that will freeze both the land and water. The extent
and depth of this freezing varies with the latitude, but no trapper is
immune to its effect. If your traps are frozen down, or don't fire
properly, you may as well sit back and wait for a thaw. But, if you can
maintain your sets to work during freezing weather, you won't be left out
in the cold even though your traps are.
###
For antifreeze compounds, visit the
Hardware & Misc.
Department.
(Posted for March-April 2005)
Culverts - Natural Fur Funnels
by Hal Sullivan
(This article first appeared in
"Fur-Fish-Game" March, 1991)
One of the keys to successful trapping is to place your traps where you know animals are traveling. Besides knowing the habits of the animal, a trapper also takes advantage of natural features that force an animal to travel a given path. This could include things as large as a river or mountain range, but more often a trapper will seek out smaller and more defined features that specifically restrict the animals to a narrow route. There is no better example of this than the forcing and restricting qualities of the drains that are used to channel water under a road, commonly known as culverts.
Culverts are used to channel and direct water underneath a crossing and provide a dry route above. They steer animals along the same routes. An animal that is traveling at the shoreline will be forced to do one of two things when it encounters a culvert. It can go through, or it can go up and over. Either way, you have a good chance of finding a place to catch these animals as they pass by.
Whether or not an animal goes over or through a culvert depends upon several factors. If the culvert has deep water flowing through it, dry land animals like fox will probably go over. Other animals like mink, coon, and muskrats don't seem to mind swimming through a culvert when necessary. If the culvert is dry or has very shallow water, you can expect anything. I have taken a number of fox in mink sets made at shallow culverts.
Muskrats will rarely go over the top of a culvert, but there are a certain number of coon and mink that prefer to stay dry and will take to the high road. The best advice is to check the sign at a culvert. If animals are going through the culvert, they will probably leave tracks somewhere nearby in the dirt or mud. But always check for a trail that leads over the culvert. These are sometimes very faint and hard to spot.
There are so many different sizes, types and configurations of culverts that it is hard to generalize about them. They range is size from the 10 foot concrete tunnels that you could row a boat through, on down to the little six-inch tile that runs under a driveway. Although any culvert can be a good force, ordinarily those in the two to four foot range offer the best opportunities for a trapper. Culverts this size are usually connected with a fairly substantial drainage system which provides habitat, and these culverts are large enough to comfortably admit any animal, while being small enough to allow the trapper the opportunity for making a blind set.
Many culverts are simply wet-weather overflows and may run only a trickle of water most of the time. Usually, the bottom of the culvert has filled with sediment leaving a flat pool in the pipe. But outside the ends of the culvert, the water usually resumes a normal flow and here you may find a narrow channel in which to make set. If the flow is not naturally restricted, you may use rocks, brush, sod, or other things to block down the channel and steer the animal over the trap.
You can use these objects to narrow and increase the flow of water at a culvert. If you can make a narrow channel of fast water to hold your trap, the set will remain operational even if the temperatures dip below freezing. Rapidly moving water does not freeze as fast a calm water. Sometimes, it is advantageous to make your sets inside the culvert to help hide your catch. If you create a restriction inside a culvert to make a blind set, make sure you use light materials that will wash out and not plug up the culvert in case of a storm.
Other culverts, especially those draining hilly land, may be swept clean by the occasional flood of water. Again, you may find or construct locations at the mouth of these culverts to make sets. You can make sets inside these culverts too, but you may encounter some problems. If there is a trickle of water, you can set a trap right on the bottom of the culvert in the water, but it will be extremely difficult to bed on the hard surface of the culvert. Also, there is a chance that a sudden rush of water through the culvert could knock your trap out of commission.
Sometimes fastening a trap at a culvert can be difficult. If the conditions are right for staking, this is a good method. However, at some culverts the bottom is too mucky to hold a stake, and at others it may be too rocky to drive a stake. Heavy drags like rocks or pieces of iron can be used, but try to avoid using wooden drags unless you are sure your trap will not be carried away by an unexpected rise in the water.
Many of these culverts are made of steel, and I have another method for fastening a trap here. Once while trapping in front of a steel culvert I found an unused rivet hole that was perfectly positioned for me to wire a trap. This gave me an idea. The following summer, I purchased a rechargeable electric drill. As I scouted over my trapline before the season, I carried the drill with a small bit, in my truck. When I found a steel culvert I was going to set up, I drilled a 3/16 inch hole in the edge of it near the bottom. This does no damage to the culvert and is hardly noticeable. Do keep the hole near the bottom so it will be easier to hide the wire.
Blind sets are generally the rule at culverts, but if none can be constructed a baited or lured set can be used. Some culverts hold deep water, and others often have a deep pool at one end. This is a good place to make a pocket set that will catch the eye of an animal swimming through, or going around, the culvert. Also these deep pools offer good opportunities to make a drowning set.
Culverts, by their nature, are usually accessible from a road. This is one of the greatest advantages in trapping a culvert, but it is also one of the major drawbacks. You can often drive within a few feet of a culvert set, but so can anyone else. Thievery can be a big problem if you are trapping culverts along a major right-of-way. It is no secret that culverts are good producers of fur, but this fact is known by trap thieves as well as trappers.
It is not too hard to camouflage a trap and hide it from view, but it's really tough to camouflage a trapped animal. If you are trapping culverts in a theft prone area, try to move back from the mouth of the culvert a significant distance. Try to find the path leading to or from the culvert and trace it back. It is also hard to hide your actions from public view when you are trapping along a road. I have heard of fellows who tried to disguise themselves as telephone repair men. I sometimes carry a burlap sack with me and pretend I'm picking up cans when someone passes by. This will probably fool the casual observer, but it's really not the casual observer you have to worry about.
When you get away from the public roads, and back into the farms and fields, culverts take on another significance. Up to this point, the discussion has focused on animals traveling with the water flow. But in the more isolated areas, these culverts represent crossing points for canines who do not want to get their feet wet, or do not like to climb down and up the bank to get across a ditch. These culvert crossings are good locations for canine sets.
Many times when I'm trapping fox in the back fields, I utilize these culverts. I always carry along a few extra traps to set underneath the culvert, and sometimes I just use dirty fox traps. I pick up a few extra critters, and I don't have to go out of the way to do it. You might be surprised to learn how many mink will travel into the dry upland areas that the fox prefer. And, you may very well end up with a fox in the bottom of the culvert. Gray fox, especially, seem prone to going through culverts.
You could hardly find a better location for restricting and channeling the travel of furbearers than a culvert. A little investigation will reveal the animal activity at a culvert and will probably yield a good location for a set. If you find a well used culvert, make two sets--one on each end. The culvert will funnel any animal that comes along, and two traps could easily give you a double catch.
###
Visit our
"Books &
Videos" department for more trapping information.
(Posted for January-February, 2005)
When It's Wet
by Hal Sullivan
(This article first appeared in "The Trapper
and Predator Caller" July, 1990)
When those in
the fur buying business use the term "dried fur", it is usually in reference
to pelts that are stretched, dried, and ready for market. The trapper, on the other
hand, has a more basic concern for "dried fur". Animals often come from the
trapline soaking wet. You cannot turn a wet critter into a dried pelt for the market
without first drying the wet fur of the animal itself. Unfortunately, you can't take
your critters to the laundromat and run them through the dryer, but there are other
methods that may save you some time in drying out wet animals.
The
first thing to point out is that fur will dry faster if it is clean. Couple this with
the fact that fur will sell better if it is clean, and you have two good reasons for
washing off a muddy animal. I have found myself at times trying to dry a half-wet,
half-muddy animal thinking I would save time by not completely immersing the animal in
water. But usually theses animals don't dry any faster than the ones I have washed
clean. This washing may be no more than sloshing the animal around in clean creek
water, as long as it removes the mud and dirt from the fur.
The
next step on the way to a dry animal is to shake as much water from the fur as
possible. There are two basic methods for doing this. One is to swing the animal back
and forth, or around in circles, and throw as much water off as possible. Smaller
animals like 'rats and mink can be handled with one hand. Be careful not to swing
muskrats too hard because you can easily break the spine and cause yourself a mess at
skinning time. Another trick for drying muskrats is to place them against your boot,
and use the edge of your hand like a squeegee to push the water out of them.
Larger
animals usually require a two-hand grip and are swung back and forth, stopping sharply
at the end of each swing to snap out the water. Grasp the animal with one hand holding
each back leg and swing the animal back and forth from right to left in front of your
body. When you get to the end of the swing, give the animal a quick jerk to start it
back the other way. This throws out the water.
Another
method that will remove some water from the larger animals is to grab all four legs
and shake the animal as you would imagine a wet dog shakes itself. It works on the
same principle. Hold the animal in front of you and grasp the back feet with one hand
and the front feet with the other, and just wiggle the critter violently. You will
probably want to turn your head to keep from getting misted in the face.
To
get more water out of the fur after this point you need either the patience and time
to hang it up and wait for it to dry, or you need some absorbent material to soak the
water out of the fur. The classic method of rubbing muskrats in powdery snow is one
example of this - the snow absorbs the water. A more practical method of absorbing the
water from an animal is to wipe it down with some sort of a drying rag. Old rags will
work and so will paper towels, but buying paper towels to dry fur with will likely
prove unprofitable.
Actually
the best thing to rub down a wet animal with is a bath towel. After all, they're made
for this purpose. I started out with one old bath towel that turned up in my rag bag,
but now I keep a whole stack of "fur" towels. With the blessings of my dear
wife, I commandeer every old, worn or tattered bath towel that is retired from
service. These I boldly inscribe with a large "X" in permanent marker, which
delineates them as "Fur Towels". When these towels get grossly soiled, I can
get them laundered (right after the mop rags and throw rugs) and the bold marking
precludes anyone inadvertently placing them back in the bathroom cupboard.
You
can get a surprising amount of water out of an animal by rubbing it vigorously with a
towel. And if you hang the towels up nicely, like a good housekeeper, they will be dry
and ready for the next day's catch. I also carry a few of these in the truck. I can
wrap up a wet animal and soak some of the water out of it on the way home. Or if I'm
on an all day line, I can rub the critter down, and it could be dry by the time I get
home.
Here is a
little trick that some may want to try if they have room in their vehicle. I carry a
few colony traps around with me. Sometimes I set one for 'rats, but most of the time I
use them to lay my wet critters on. This allows the air to circulate underneath the
animals to start them drying as I finish the line.
The
final bit of moisture that remains in the fur must be removed by evaporation. Three
things influence the rate at which evaporation will occur - temperature, humidity, and
air circulation. There is not much you can do about humidity, we all know things dry
faster on an clear day than they do on a damp day. Temperature and air circulation
however can be controlled to a certain extent.
As
a general rule of thumb, things dry faster when it is warm. If you are working in an
unheated fur shed, and the daytime temperatures are only in the freezing range, you're
not going to have much luck drying critters. When the temperatures drop below this,
you're going to have no luck at all. During fair weather, critters may dry nicely just
hanging outdoors. Other times, you may have to consider heating the shed. If you do
use any type of heater when drying your fur, do not get the fur too close to the heat
source. It could singe the fur or cause the animal to begin to decompose.
Another
option is to take the animals to the house to dry. If you are forced into this
situation, it may be better to go ahead and skin the animal and take only the pelt to
the house. Hanging carcasses around the house won't win you much family favor. It is
not the most pleasant task to skin a wet animal, but it is possible. Once the wet
critter is skinned, it can be turned fur side out to complete the drying. Sometimes
the drying can be sped up by putting the pelt, fur side out, on a stretcher. When
drying the fur on pelted animals, watch that the exposed edge of the leather does not
get too dry in the process. As soon as the fur is dry, turn the pelt leather-side out
on the stretcher.
You
can boost your efficiency in drying animals by providing good air circulation. A good
breeze either outdoors or through your fur shed will help dry your animals faster. The
alternative is to create your own breeze with a fan. This can be extremely
advantageous in the house where the temperatures are warm, and your welcome may not
be.
If you are
drying only one or two animals, directing the fan on them may not be a problem. But if
you have several animals, you might have trouble getting the fan to blow on all of
them at once. To accomplish this I hang the animals in a row on a pole that is
suspended just about at chest level. Then I put the fan on my workbench, and set it to
blow at an angle across the pole. Sometimes it is helpful to hang the animal by one
leg for a while, and then switch to the other leg to expose the opposite side of the
animal to the fan.
There
is one other thing that can be used to dry an animal. An electric hair dryer will
work, but I do not recommend it. It will dry an animal fast in an emergency, but it
requires your constant attention, and you can singe fur on the higher settings. This
is a very extreme measure, but I have done it on occasions when I absolutely had to
get the animal skinned and stretched in a hurry. This is usually in conjunction with
going out for the evening or going out of town for the day.
In
reality you can get an animal dry in a reasonable period of time without resorting to
this extreme measure. Shake as much water from your fur as you can. This physically
removes most of the water. Then towel it off, and absorb as much of the remaining
moisture as possible. You should then be able to finish drying the animal with a good
breeze or a fan under moderate temperatures. An animal treated in this manner should
dry in a few hours, and you won't be standing around at midnight waiting on a bunch of
wet animals.
###
For fur handling equipment visit the
Fur Handling department on the Supply Line
(Posted for November-December 2004)
The Picture on Pockets
by Hal Sullivan
(This article first appeared in
"Fur-Fish-Game" November, 1990)
Back in the
1960's, I remember reading an article written by a prominent mink trapper. The story
was accompanied by a photograph showing the trapper posing on his line with a
double-digit catch of mink. Unfortunately, he did not reveal his secret methods in the
text, and I was left wondering just how this trapper was catching so many mink. The
picture wasn't much help either because it didn't show any sets, just a line of mink
on the creek bank with the trapper sanding in the background leaning on a long-handled
trowel.
A
number of years and a number of traplines later, I was thumbing through a stack of old
magazines I had retrieved from the attic when I again ran across this article and
picture. The words were the same, but the photograph had taken on new meaning. I broke
out in a broad grin, remembering how this article had perplexed me. Now I knew exactly
what this old-time minker had been up to. The long-handled trowel was a dead giveaway
that the trapper was catching these critters in pocket sets.
Since
trappers have grown less hesitant about sharing information, the pocket set can hardly
be considered a secret these days. It is definitely effective on mink, but it also
works on coon and muskrats as well. In essence, this set is constructed along a water
course by digging a hole in the bank at or near the shoreline. The hole itself
presents an attraction to passing animals which might want to investigate it as a
burrow, but it is usually amplified with the application of bait or lure to provide
further incentive for the animal to come to the set.
The
hole of course, is the key element in a pocket set. Its size, in diameter, can vary
according to the target animal. The minker mentioned above was probably digging small,
three or four inch diameter pockets with his narrow bladed trowel. But a trapper going
after coon might dig a pocket that is eight inches or more across. A six to eight inch
hole would be a good all around compromise. It might be good to point out a mink
trapper sometimes keeps his pockets as small as possible to exclude nontarget animals
- like coon.
Regardless
of what size hole you dig, there is a common method for making this excavation. The
beginning of the hole, or mouth of the pocket, starts at the shoreline where the land
meets the water. The opening is dug deep enough to let water flow back into the hole,
but high enough to provide an entrance for the animal. The hole is then angled uphill
so the back of the pocket is above the water level. There are several good reasons for
this construction. The hole made like this resembles a muskrat's burrow, which always
has water at the entrance and slopes upward to the living chambers. The water in the
mouth of the pocket also provides concealment for the trap. Traps set under water need
no further covering. The elevated back of the pocket provides a dry place to put bait.
The
depth of the pocket is not a critical factor, but generally deeper pockets are more
effective than shallow pockets. A deeper hole will more closely resemble an animal's
burrow. It will also do a better job of hiding the bait from the animal enticing the
critter to enter the pocket to investigate. A depth of 18 to 24 inches should be
sufficient. Sometimes obstructions such as large roots and rocks are encountered that
prevent you from digging a deep pocket. In this case, you can make do with a shallow
pocket and still expect some results.
In
general, pockets sets are most easily constructed where the bank is steep or nearly
vertical. You can dig your upward slanting hole and still have a nice round mouth in
the pocket. Pocket sets made on a gradually sloping bank may take on a different
appearance. If you are digging into a sloping bank, the opening of the pocket may
start out as a trench that extends upward away from the water. You may have to dig a
ways before the bank becomes high enough to form a top or roof for the pocket. These
pockets are not quite as good as those dug into a vertical wall, but most of the time
the animals will come straight up the trench to investigate the set. Another problem
with digging pockets into a sloping bank is that the roof of the pocket is usually
thin and has a tendency to cave in. If this happens, you can use some natural
materials like sticks or sod to repair the roof of the pocket.
Fast Forward: I neglected to mention here, that you can shave off the
bank with the shovel to make a more vertical wall to dig a pocket into. Or, you may
shave off the bank after you have dug the hole.
Another factor
that greatly influences the construction of a pocket set is the soil type. Loose
gravel soils will not support a pocket because the hole caves in. A pocket set made in
pure clay soil might last several seasons, but it might take half a day to dig through
the clay. In between are the mixed sand/loam/clay soils that are fairly easy to dig
into and will reasonably support a pocket set. You should be able to tell after just a
few shovels of dirt if it will be easy, or even possible, to construct the hole.
The
minker in that old photograph carried a long-handled trowel to dig his pocket sets.
The handle on this tool was three or four feet long, but most long handled trapper
trowels are 18 to 24 inches long, with about a three-inch blade. These can be used for
digging pocket sets, and they are easily carried along in a bucket or packbasket. If
you are going to do a lot of digging, the plain round-end handle can leave your palms
very sore at the end of the day. Buying a trowel with a D-handle or installing a
D-handle on the trowel will save you some pain.
Another
very popular pocket set tool is the tile spade. This is a narrow bladed shovel used to
dig and clean out ditches for laying pipes and drain tiles. The blade is about 5
inches wide, and the shovel has an overall length of 44 inches and a weight of five
pounds. They are heavily constructed and will stand considerable abuse. They will dig
faster than a trowel and cut through roots better. However, the extra weight and size
of a tile spade makes it a little more cumbersome to carry around, and the wide blade
digs only larger size pockets. Expense may be another factor because tile spades can
cost two or three times as much as a trapper's trowel. However, with proper care, a
tile spade could last a lifetime.
One
question about making a pocket set that used to puzzle me was how to start at, or
slightly below, the water line and dig uphill without dunking your arms and hands in
the water? The answer is - you can't! Not without a great deal of difficulty. Unless
you have no aversion to being wet and cold, a pair of rubber gloves will aid you in
making pocket sets.
The
less expensive 12 and 18 inch length gloves will suffice if you are careful. However,
shoulder length gauntlets are really the item to have if you are serious about making
pocket sets. With these gauntlets, you can keep your elbow below the water line and
dig the upward slanting hole easily. You can also reach completely to the back of the
pocket, without getting a muddy coat sleeve. This makes it easy to clean the loose
dirt from the pocket with your hands and easy to place the bait in the back. A pair of
shoulder length gauntlets and a pair of chest waders will make you almost waterproof,
and you can dig pockets faster and easier if you don't have to worry about splashing
water on yourself.
Let's
look at the construction of a typical pocket set and look at the steps involved in
completing the set. In this instance we'll select a short vertical bank along a small
creek for the set. First, use your trowel to carve out the mouth of the pocket, in
this case five inches, raking the dirt out into the water. Then dig the hole uphill,
removing the dirt and scattering it in the water, until you have reached a
satisfactory depth, in this case 18 inches or the length of the trowel. Then use your
trowel or hand to clean all the loose dirt from the hole.
Now
you have a hole, wet in the front and dry in the back. The next step is to bed a trap
under the water at the entrance of the hole. There is some contention as to where the
trap should be placed. Traps placed inside the mouth of the pocket require that the
animal stick its front end in the hole, but they are well positioned to make a catch
when it does. Traps can be set outside the mouth of the pocket, and thus have the
potential to take animals that refuse to go into the pocket. A compromise position is
also acceptable. Setting the trap partway in the mouth of the pocket will give you a
chance to catch most animals that investigate the hole, and still has the advantage of
using the mouth of the pocket to guide the animal into the trap. Of course, the trap
must be anchored properly, and as is often the case in making a pocket set the trap
can be rigged to drown the catch.
After
the trap is in place, the pocket can be baited and lured. These two steps could be
reversed if it is more convenient. The bait is placed in the extreme back end of the
pocket. Covering the bait with grass or leaves may increase the curiosity level of the
set, especially if the pocket is not deep. Some trappers use a liquid bait like fish
oil and just squirt it in the back of the pocket. Lure can be applied several
different ways at a pocket. It can be placed on the covering of the bait or applied to
a separate lure holding material placed in the back of the pocket. Another method is
to put the lure on a stick and shove the stick into the roof of the pocket.
You
can put some finishing touches on the set by using your gloved hand to wet down the
pocket and slick up the edges to give the appearance that the hole is being used. This
will give the pocket more eye appeal. Animals can be attracted from quite a distance
by the sight of a pocket, but as with any other set the pocket set will be most
effective when placed on or near the animal's natural line of travel. The shoreline
itself presents a natural travelway, but scouting this shoreline for sign of animals
will probably reveal some specific locations that are good for pocket sets.
Locations
for pocket sets can also be selected for visibility of the set. This might work both
ways. A location that produces a highly visible pocket will attract animals from a
wider area, but will also be highly visible to the two-legged predators. Pocket sets
placed in obscure locations have less visual attraction but will still produce if they
are on a path that the animals will follow.
The
pocket set was once assigned to the secret files of selected trappers, but today it is
a standard set. Most trappers use the pocket set in one form or another, and it has
become the predominant set on many water lines. The pocket set is not hard to
construct, but this can be influenced by the selection of tools, equipment, and
location for making the set. Most of the water oriented furbearers will be attracted
to this artificial hole in the bank, and the addition of a bait or lure to the pocket
will give it added drawing power. I can't say you will catch a dozen mink in a day
like the trapper I saw in that old photograph, but at least you get the picture.
###
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(Posted for September-October 2004)
Where You Catch Them
by Hal Sullivan
(This article first appeared in "The Trapper
and Predator Caller" October, 1990)
Location, as it
is generally described in trapper's terms, is the place chosen to make a set for a
certain critter. A set placed in an area the animal is known to frequent, and more
specifically on or very near the animal's chosen route through the area, is said to be
on location. This will give you the best chance for catching the animal. But this does
not tell the whole story, because once the animal is caught other environmental
factors come into play. The area surrounding the trap site, or the location of the
location if you will, is also a factor in determining the advisability of making a
set.
Let's
start with an obvious and very straightforward example. You are trapping coon along a
small creek. Their tracks seem to be scattered about, but you find a place where all
the tracks converge to go through a stand of shoreline brush. There is a beaten path,
and here is where you place your foothold trap. This set would certainly be on
location, but it is not likely to produce many coon. The brush would give the coon,
with its excessive strength, great agility, and tapered paw, a very good chance to
pull out.
This
is a classic example of an "entanglement" situation. The possibility for
entanglement should always be of prime concern when selecting locations for dry sets.
It is a basic rule that animals, particularly those that are staked down, should be
prevented from tangling up with any solid objects while they are confined in traps.
This prevents the animal from gaining leverage to pull out of the trap. It also helps
to prevent injury to the animal which may become entangled in an awkward position
around the object.
Fast Forward: With snares coming into more widespread use the problem
of entanglement becomes an even greater concern. With snares, entanglement can mean
the difference between a lethal and non-lethal set.
The problem of
thievery is another obvious aspect of set location. While all the other signs and
conditions may be right for putting in a set, its proximity to human travel must be
considered. Putting an animal in full view of passers-by is an open invitation to the
unscrupulous. Keeping animals out of view also has merit in not offending the
sensibilities of the general public.
Other
aspects of selecting a location for making a set are not quite so straight forward.
They may vary with time, with weather conditions, or may be a unique feature of the
specific area itself. Let's look at these factors one at a time.
If
you trap in farm country, there is a better than even chance you will find good spots
for sets on the cropland. But I know from personal experience that making sets on
cropland is a matter of timing. If you make sets in places such as long term stands of
hay, you may be reasonably sure that they will not be disturbed by farming activities
during the fall and winter. However, other cropland may be subject to harvesting,
tilling, or planting during the trapping season.
Each season, many traps become a
permanent part of the soil when they are buried by plows or completely obscured by
crop fodder. Some may be found by careful searching, but most often it takes a metal
detector to find these farmed-out traps. It can be helpful to try to coordinate your
efforts with those of the farmer, but understandably farmers can not be pinned down to
a definite schedule. "Make hay while the sun shines" is a phrase that
originates in agriculture, and a farmer may well seize an early opportunity to get at
the field work.
Using
common sense can help in choosing locations on cropland. If you see a corn picker
going through one field, don't go to the next corn field and make a set. More to the
point, don't try to work ahead of changing crop conditions if you know that fair
weather is being predicted. On the other hand, if you find a field that is half plowed
but recent heavy rains have saturated the soil, you might safely make a set in the
unplowed half of the field for at least a few days.
But
trapping on cropland always involves some risk. Last season I contacted a farmer in
regards to his intentions in harvesting a certain corn field. When I found out it was
on his list, I asked for and received permission to place a couple of sets in a newly
planted hay field adjacent to the corn. (The farmer assured me that a couple of small
catch circles in a 20 acre hay field were of little concern to him. But you should
always ask before making sets on land that has been planted for the next season.)
I
put in the sets. Three days later, they were gone! The location I had selected was the
area the farmer had chosen for turning around the corn picker and staging the grain
wagons. The whole end of the hay field was obliterated with tracks from the wagons and
the cleated treads of the tractors and corn picker, and the whole area had a liberal
covering of corn fodder. Had it not been for my failure to cleanly dispatch a skunk on
the first check, I wouldn't have found the traps. I put my nose to the ground like a
sorry hound and sniffed out the skunk set. From there I could pinpoint the location of
the second trap, although both were no longer in serviceable condition.
On
untilled land, timing in regards to set location may revolve around others using the
land, most generally hunters. Making sets in prime hunting areas during the first week
or two of the respective season can lead to the thievery problem mentioned earlier.
This is not a condemnation of hunters because most are upstanding individuals. But it
takes only one unprincipled soul to make off with your trap or fur. Another problem
you may encounter is hunters trying to do you a good turn by killing the animal for
you - with a shotgun or high powered rifle.
Suitable
locations for sets also vary with the weather. While shoreline sets may be just the
ticket for aquatic furbearers, it would be foolish to lay out a line of them if the
weather man was predicting heavy rain for the next week. Rain can also greatly effect
locations in land trapping. Flat and low lying areas may be prone to puddling, and
ground saturation can put sets out of commission for days. Animals may even stop
traveling through these areas during wet weather.
Other
set locations, particularly those in open fields, may suffer from the mud factor
during wet weather. Sets in bare muddy ground are hard to make and nearly impossible
to maintain. Furthermore, animals caught under such conditions end up exceedingly
messy. If you have ever tried to wash out a red fox that has spent all evening
wallowing in a wet soybean field, you will know what I mean. During rainy periods,
areas with a sod-type or natural leaf mold cover will usually offer better locations
for sets.
Freezing
weather also has a severe impact on set location. Sets made in the water are rendered
inoperable by a layer of ice, and land sets made without an antifreeze dressing can be
frozen down. At this time, fast water riffles and nonfreezing springs may offer the
only viable locations for water sets. On land, trappers may find sheltered locations
where the ground does not freeze as fast. Bare, open, and windswept areas tend to
loose their heat faster and freeze first. If temperatures dip quite low, and blowing
or drifting snow becomes a problem, the situation might reverse, and these same open
and windswept areas might provide the best locations for sets.
There
are times when a unique feature of a certain location can make it attractive to a
furbearer, but there are other times when a unique feature of a location makes it
unsuitable for a set - for example:
During
my early years of fox trapping, I found a pile of soybean chaff near a strip of cover.
The pile of chaff provided a unique feature in that immediate area, and this was
evidenced by the pile of fox dung deposited on top. The soil was not wet, and it was
very easy to bed a trap in front of the chaff pile and add a drop of lure to complete
a set. I readily admit to being not so keen on observation in those days, and it
wasn't until I connected with a fox that I considered the fact that this chaff pile
was about fifty percent cockle burrs. By the time I got all the burrs removed from the
pelt, and most of them out of the tail, the picking and pulling had reduced a
perfectly good fox pelt to a low number three.
Since
that time, I have closely examined all the chaff piles that I set up. I also check
other locations, especially in weed fields and edge cover, to see that there are no
great amount of burr type weeds near the set. If there are too many I may avoid the
area. If there are only a few, I will tolerate the inconvenience, although I may
discretely pull up and dispose of a few of these plants.
Other
types of organic matter in the area of the set can also render it less desirable as a
trap site. Mown hay fields or pastured land can make good trap locations, but long
unmown grasses could yield an entanglement situation for an animal. Long stems of
grass tend to foul in the chain of the trap and render the swivels inoperative. On a
creek bank, long grass could snag up a smaller animal like a mink or muskrat and keep
it from reaching deeper water where it would properly drown.
Sometimes
a combination of factors can conspire to reduce the value of a certain location. I
once had a bodygrip set along a creek to take mink as they left the water and ran
along a rock ledge. I was patient. The weather grew colder, but I was sure the trap on
the dry rock ledge would not freeze down. I should have been a little quicker to think
about what would happen to the wet mink when it emerged from the ripple and stuck its
head through the trap. When that happened, I had a dead wet mink, frozen to solid
rock.
Had the
temperature not been so cold, or had the trap been set anywhere else but on the solid
rock, I would have been okay. I have had mink frozen to gravel, but its usually
possible to break up the stones, and carry them home with the mink to thaw off the
same way you do an animal that is frozen in the ice.
Naturally,
the primary concern in trapping is getting the animal in the trap. Setting traps on
location is a big step in accomplishing this, but selecting sites for your traps
involves more than just locating animal signs and travelways. What happens to a
trapped animal after it is caught, or whether a set remains in operation so that an
animal can be caught, is also a function of the location. Evaluating a location in
regards to time, weather, and environmental hazards can help you determine the
possibility, probability, or advisability of making a set.
###
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(Posted for
July-August 2004)
A Fancy for Fox
by Hal Sullivan
(This article first appeared in
"Fur-Fish-Game" August, 1990)
A short time
ago, I was chewing the fat with a fellow trapper as we discussed the upcoming season.
My friend mentioned that he was not trapping fox this fall. We talked about all the
trouble involved in catching fox, especially in light of the depressed market for
their pelts. In spite of this, I had plans to catch a few fox, but I was unable to
offer a sound economic reason.
My
friend smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "You do it because you like to trap
fox," he laughed.
I
guess that's true. I do like to trap fox. Sometimes I'm almost laughable. I can hardly
bear to walk by a good fox set without putting in a trap. It doesn't matter what
critter I'm targeting, I'm always ready to catch a fox if there is one around. If I'm
putting out a mink line, and find a hot location for fox, you can bet I'll be back the
next day with my dirt sifter. Only through the exercise of extreme self control can I
keep myself away from fox.
Maybe
my keen interest in fox stems from my humble beginnings as a fox trapper. I didn't
know anyone who trapped fox, so I was on my own. Sometimes it's hard to admit your
mistakes, but I don't have any trouble owning up to the fact that my very first
attempt at fox trapping was a study in stupidity.
I
started in the middle of January, with a dozen No. 1 1/2 longsprings, and a chicken
that had died of natural causes. The only thing to my credit was that I didn't tie the
chicken up in a tree. I had a general idea of what a dirthole was. I hacked the
chicken into twelve pieces, hacked a dozen dirtholes in the frozen ground, and didn't
catch a thing.
It
was apparent that I would need more than fifteen minutes preparation if I was going to
catch a fox. Through the following spring and summer, I dug out all my back issues of
F.F.G. and read every article I could find on fox trapping. Back then, writers were a
little vague with their information, but by studying ten year's worth of magazines I
was able to compile enough information to give me a start.
Late
in the summer, I ordered a dozen No. 1 1/2 coilsprings so I could rust and dye them. I
killed a couple of groundhogs and cubed them up for bait. From a twenty foot piece of
reinforcing bar, I hack sawed my stakes, and I made a dirt sifter with a piece of
hardware cloth. Reading the old articles, I had gathered that lure played an important
part in fox trapping. A bottle of Dailey's Fox No. 1 rounded out my arsenal.
On
opening day, I put out ten dirtholes and held two traps in reserve. I caught a healthy
number of possums and a couple of skunks in the first week, but no fox. I thought fox
had visited my sets, but when they did they dug up my traps. To add insult to injury,
one fox had left a rude business card on top of a fired trap.
It
was apparent that the fox had some uncanny ability to detect the trap, even though it
was buried. I had no idea how they could do this, but I would remake the sets and the
fox would dig them up again. I was getting desperate and beginning to foster the idea
that these fox were in cahoots with the super-natural powers.
On
the tenth day, a friend accompanied me on the trapline. He was interested in trapping,
and I explained all the trouble I was having as we checked the first half of the empty
line. We stopped at my truck and decided to sit down for a cup of coffee before we
checked the traps in the other direction.
As
we were sipping our coffee, John shouted, "What's that over there."
"It's
a pile of old fence posts," I answered. "I've got a trap set behind
it."
"I
think I saw something move," John said.
As
we both watched, the tail of a red fox flashed momentarily above the pile of old
posts. We ran to the set, and as if that one fox was not enough, there was another
bouncing in the end of a hay field 200 yards away. What a grand beginning--two fox in
one day.
Unfortunately,
that was the sum total production of my fox sets for that season. I did catch a gray
fox to add to my count, but it was taken by accident in a coon set.
As
I gained some practical experience, I was better able to understand some of the
material I was reading. I read everything I could find on fox trapping and finally
made contact with other fox trappers. I continued to improve over the next few seasons
which I refer to as my formative years. During this time, it seems like everything I
learned showed me just how much I didn't know.
I
hadn't even considered using urine, but I learned it was a major element in fox
trapping. When I started using, and misusing, urine my catch went up. I say 'misusing'
because at first I had the idea urine was a camouflaging agent. I would rub urine all
over my rubber gloves, and sprinkle the trap bed with urine to cover up 'foreign'
odors. Today, I use urine as an attractor, not a cover up, and I usually concentrate
it in one small spot. And I would never contaminate my gloves with urine or any other
odors.
If
anyone asked me what was the most important thing I learned during this period, I
would have a ready answer. Learning to properly bed and stabilize a trap was my
biggest step toward improvement. Furthermore, I discovered that my sloppy habits were
the major cause of fox being able to detect my traps.
On
my early sets, I would just sift a little dirt in the bottom of the trap bed, lay in
the trap, and cover it up. Every time a fox stepped on a jaw or lever, the trap would
wiggle. Sometimes they would flip over, and if they didn't the curious fox would dig
them out anyway.
When I learned to bed a trap so that it was part of the earth, my
catch improved dramatically and my incidence of dug traps fell sharply. Now, before I
cover a trap, I do a four point check pushing hard on each jaw and lever to make sure
the trap does not move. I use sticks, stones, dirt and anything else that is handy to
pack under and around the trap until it is rock steady. I won't tolerate the slightest
wobble.
As I
got these things sorted out, I began to gain some confidence. I was catching fox
regularly with the dirthole, but I began to see the need for some alternate sets --
especially for those fox that had wised up to my dirtholes.
The
following season, I decided to experiment with urine post sets. I probably would have
given up on them if it were not for one specific set. This set was on an ideal
location. Along a brushy fence row, there was a tractor lane that came up out of a
creek bottom. At the top of the rise was a small, one acre field that had been planted
in a green cover crop. About ten feet off the road was a thick weed stem that had been
chopped off by the harrow. It stuck up prominently above the short cover. I planted a
trap, and gave the stub a shot of urine hoping for the best.
My
other urine post sets didn't produce a gol-darn thing, but before I was finished, I
took four reds and one gray fox at the cover field set. I had to replace the post
three times, and when I was done, the fox had raked enough stuff into the catch circle
to form a little dome in the field.
After
post sets came flat sets, and I began to use them along with my dirthole set. I also
learned to vary my lure, bait and urine. At one point, I was making every set the same
way. I would dig out a dirthole and add the lure, bait and urine - one right after the
other. I started out by varying the brands of lure at the set, and then I learned to
make sets with only one or two odors. This included the flat sets and post sets as
well as the dirtholes.
I
remember during this time, I caught a fox in a dirthole with nothing but bait down the
hole. Up to this point I was afraid to throw away my urine and lure crutches. About
this time, I figured out that the trapper is supposed to use bait, lure and urine -
not be used by them. Don't get me wrong, I still employ these items extensively on my
fox line, but I use them with studied consideration and not by force of habit.
Having
a variety in my sets and learning to take a proper perspective on scent attractors
raised me to another level in my fox trapping endeavors. Although it was, and still
is, exciting to catch a fox, some of the novelty had worn off. Now, I was making sets
expecting, instead of hoping, to catch fox.
Looking
back, this was the period when I "paid my dues", and each fox was an
installment. There is no way around this dilemma. You can't make any valid comparisons
about your skills or your methods until you've actually caught a few fox to compare.
This grows like a snowball as each fox swells your data bank.
I
started keeping a notebook on my fox sets. This proved to be a wise move. With more
fox under my belt, I could no longer keep a mental account of the specific details on
a specific set. My first notes were just a few lines scribbled on a blank page. Later
I developed an organized system that let me chart each set and compare baits, lures,
locations, and other details.
In
the act of compiling my figures, I got a better appreciation of the conventional
wisdoms of fox trapping. But I also learned that general principles are just that -
general. No fixed rule could cover each individual set, location, or trapper. Thus
far, I had relied on the advice of others, but to make further improvements I would
have to take charge of my own affairs.
I
began by reviewing some of the assumptions I had been working under, trying to sort
out the wheat from the chaff. One popular theory held that catching a possum would
ruin a fox set. I had always abandoned these sets, but I started remaking them, and I
did catch fox.
Another often touted idea was that a clean trap should be put in
after every catch. I did this for a while, but it got to the point I was keeping two
clean spares for every trap I had in the ground. Today, I don't change a trap at a set
unless the wax is worn off it. I might catch four or five critters in the same trap. I
follow the rule of using a clean trap at a clean set, but if the set is already
contaminated a clean trap does not offer a significant advantage. In fact, I may take
a contaminated trap from a set I've already pulled and plug it in at an active set to
replace a wax-worn coworker.
I
also used this time to hone my mechanics. I got better at set construction and trap
placement. I had my equipment and myself organized so that I could move quickly and
efficiently. I learned to modify and adjust my traps to suit my needs. But the most
important thing that developed during this period was my own internal confidence. This
is the trappers sixth sense that lets him follow the proper course through
"gut" feeling.
It
seems as if I had to clear all the hurdles to becoming a fox trapper before I figured
out I wasn't in a race. As I gained maturity, I developed a more sporting interest in
fox trapping. While I was relatively sure I could slap in a certain type of set and
catch a fox, often I would challenge myself to use a different set. I also tried
oddball, and experimental sets to see how they would perform.
When
I put in a standard set, the challenge would be to see how quickly I could catch the
animal. When I can put in a set one day and take a fox next, I know everything is
going smoothly.
I have also experienced a major shift in my attitude. I no longer
consider fox to be mysterious, and now they are not even hard to catch. When I do run
across a wise critter, I am able to enjoy the challenge it represents rather than
pulling out my hair in frustration. No, I don't catch them all, and I still make
errors. But now I smile at the old wise ones and laugh at my own mistakes. I think
this relaxed mental attitude further enhances my enjoyment of the sport.
The
present market conditions don't seem to favor the fox trapper, but I'm afraid my
interest in fox has progressed beyond the price of their pelts. From a purely economic
standpoint, it may be unwise to target fox. But another trapper, like my friend, can
understand that I will trap some fox simply because - I like to trap them!
Fast Forward: This article was written in 1989. Coyotes were
relatively rare in this part of the country then. Since that time, coyotes have
reduced the fox population on this trapline to a mere fraction of what it once was. As
much as I like to trap fox, there are times when I avoid making sets for them since
their population density is now so low.
###
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