The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1875-03-18
THE FOX TRAP.

When was boy, lived in one OF
those rustic asighborhoods on the out
skirts of the great Maine woods. Foxes
were plenty, for about all those sunny,
pioneer ceariugs birch partridges breed
by thousands, as also field mice aud
squirrels, making plenty Of game for
Reynard.
There ware red foxes, cross. grays and
silver-grays; even black foxes were re-
ported. These animals were the pests OF
the farm-yards, aud made havoc with the
geese, cats, turkeys aud chickens. In
the fall of the year, particularly after the
frosts, the clearings were oyer-run by
them night aud morning. Their sharp,
cur-like barks used often to rouse us, and
of dark evening we would hear them
out in the fields, mousing around the
stone heaps, making a queer, squeaking
| sound like a mouse, to call the real mice
out Of their grass nests inside the stone
heaps, This, indeed, is faVorite trick
Of Reynard. AT the time of my story,
my friend Tom Edwards Oen years Of
age) and myself were in the turkey busi-
ness, equal partners. We owned 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
by day they wandered about the edges OF
the clearings in quest of beechnuts, which
were very plenty that fall.
All went well III tho last week in Oc-
tober, when on taking the census one
morning, a turkey was found to be miss.
ing; the thifty-onc had become thirty
since nightiall the previous evening 1t
was the first one we had lost.
We proceeded to look for traces. Our
snspicions were divided. Tom thought
il was The Twombly boys, nelarious Sam
in particular | thought it might have
been an owl. But under The tree, in the
soft dirt where the potatoes had been
dug we found tox-tracks, and two or
three Jlninuus little wads OF feathers,
with one long tail feather adrift There.
upon we concluded that the turkey had
accidentally fallen down out Of the but
teruut-had u fit, perhaps and that lis
fuucriugs had attracted the attention OF
some passinl fox, which had, forthwith,
taken it IN charge. 1t was, as we re-
IL . 81
currences which no care on our part
/ could well have forcseeu, aud a casualty
as turkey raisers are uuavoidably beirs
to, and we bore cur loss with resignation
We were glad to remember that turkeys
did not often fall of their roosls.
This theory received something Of a
check when cur flock counted only
twenty-nine the next morning There
were more fox tracks. and great many
more feathers under the tree. This put a
new and altogether ugy aspect on the
mailer. No algebra wss needed 10 figure
the outcome Of the turkey business at
this rate, together with our prospective
profits 10 the light OF his ue@ fact. Il
was clear that something mast he done,
aud a. ouoe, too, or ruin would swallow
np the poultry drm.
Rightly or wrongly. we attributed the
mischief to certain siyer-Rray fox IhRt
had several times been seen iu lhe rsfgt
borbood that anlumn
II would take far too much spsce g..
relate in detail the plane VIC laid aud pul
~ execution 10 catch thst to1 during the
next two weeks ! recoiier, fhat we sef
three traps for him TO 30 purpose, and
that we borrowed foxhouud 90 bust
him With, bat merely succeeded ln ruu-
ming bin TO bis barrow 10 q nelghboring
rocky hillside, whence We found il im.
possible TO dislodge the willy fellow
aeanwhiis tbe for Tor foxesj had suc-
cgeIcd 10 getting two more n ibe tnr.
keys
Heroes, il il said. are born of great
crises This dilemma of ours developed
Toms geHins