Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1875-04-01
A DROLL FOx-TRAP.


those rustic neighborhoods on the out
skirts Of the great ''Maine woods"
Foxes were plenty, for all about those
sunny pioneer clearings birch-partridges
breed by thousands, as also field-mice
and squirrels, making plenty of game for
Reynard.
There were red foxes, cross grays,"
and "silver grays;" even black foxes
were reported. These animals were the
pests of the farm yards, and made havoc
with the geese, cats, turkeys and chick
ems. In the fall of the year, particularly
after the frosts, the clearings were over
run by them night and morning. Their
sharp, cur-like barks used often to rouse
US, and of dark evening we would hear
them out in the fields, housing around
the stone heaps, making queer squeak
ing sound like mouse, to call the real
mice out of their grass nests, inside the
stone heaps. This indeed, is a favorite
| trick Of Reynard.
At the time of my story my friend Tom
Edwards (ten years of age) and mysel
were in the turkey business, equal part
| ners. We owned a flock of thirty one
| turkeys. These roasted by night in
large butternut tree in front of Toms
house-in the very top of it-and they
wandered by day about the edges of the
clearings in quest of beechnuts, which
were very plenty that fall.
All went well till the last week in
October, when, on taking the census one
morning, turkey was found to be miss
ing; the thirty-one had become thirty
since nightfall the previous evening 1t
was the first one we had lost.
We proceeded to look for traces. Our
suspicious were divided. Tom thought it
was " the Twombly boys" nefarious Sam
in particular. / thought it might have
been an owl. But under the tree in the
soft dirt, where the potatoes had recent
ly been dug, we found fox tracks and two
| or three ominous little wads of feathers,
with one long tail feather adrift. There
| upon we concluded that the turkey had
ternut-had fit perhaps-and that it's
flutterings had attracted the attention of
some passing fox, which had forthwith
taken it in charge. 1t was, as we re
garded it, one of those unfortunate &C
currences which no care on our part
could have we'll foreseen, and casualty
such as turkey-raisers are unavoidably
heirs to, and we bore our loss with resig
nation We were glad to remember that
turkeys did not often fall off their roosts.
This theory received something of a
check when our flock counted only
Twenty-Five the next morning. There
were more fox tracks and great many
more feathers under the tree. This put
new and altogether ugly aspect on the
matter. No algebra was needed to figure
the outcome of the turkey business at
this rate, together with our prospective
profits, in the light of this new fact. 1t
was clear that something must be done,
and at once too, or ruin would swallow
up the poultry firm.
Rightly or wrongly, we attributed the
mischief to a certain "silver-gray fox
that had several times been seen in the
neighborhood that autumn.
1t would take far too much space to
relate in detail the plans laid and put
into execution to catch that fox during
the next two weeks. | recolleot that we
set three traps for him to no purpose, and
that we borrowed a fox-hound to hunt
him with, but mere-v succeeded in rum
ming him to his burrow in a neighboring
rocky hillside, whence we found it i'm
possible to dislodge the willy fellow.
Meanwhile the fox Tor foxes) had sue
ceeded in getting two more of the tur-
keys.
Heroes, it is said, are born of great
crises. This dilemma of ours developed
Toms genius.
"ru have that fox" he said, when the
| traps failed; and when the hound proved