Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-21
TRAPS AND SHARES.
How the Ingenuity of Man 0Vercomes
the Cunning of Game.
CATCHING DUCKS WITH NEEDLES.
The EsquimauX Manage to Fill Bears Full
Of Sharp Whalebone.
TRAINED DECOYs OF THE sAaoAys

1t does not speak well for the intelligence
of some animals that they are caught with
such absurdly simple traps as the hunter
sets for them. One reason why many traps
are simple is because the habits of the ami
mails are found out and the trap suited to
those habits, so that stupid birds and fishes
are easily gulled, while, on the other hand,
the cunning of others must be catered to.
It is proverb that the way to q mans
heart is through his stomach. and it holds
good with animals in a greater degree, says
Walter Hough, in the Boston Globe. With
suitable bait they are thrown of their
guard and become easy victims, for the idea
of getting something to eat is so large that it
shuts out all others for the time. For in
stance, Alaskan fish hooks are often mere
curved pieces of bone, with no barb and not
even sharp at the point They are only
hooks TO hold the bait; when the fish shuts
his jaws on the prospective food, he seems
to forget how to open them, and is drawn
out.
NETS SPREAD FOR BIRDS.
Animals have been left very little chance
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piness by over-hungry man. They have
been hunted and harried from time imme-
mortal, until they can match cunning with
cunning, and descry danger by the most
delicate senses of hearing and smell. What
man with loaded gun ever got in range Of
an experienced old crow? "They smell
powder" old hunters say, and it is quite d.
reasonable that "they know the differ
ence between gun and a walking cane by
sight" >.--.. .
Birds are usually caught with nets and
nooses. In Alaska ptarmigan are driven
toward long line of slp-nooses fastened
closely together; partridges are easily driven
into nets by man on horseback thing
to be regretted by real sportsmen. English
sparrows may be caught by a running moose
of horse hair, hung on a tree or window sill.
Horse hair is gold lace to a sparrow for
nest building, and they will pull at the
moose until they get it around the leg or
worthless neck.
MAKING DUCKS SWALLOW NEEDLES.
In Japan they have a novel way of catch
ing ducks by needles" A long string is
| fastened to the middle of thin piece Of
bone. This bone is baited and thrown out
| upon lily leaves, while one end of the line
| is made fast to yielding branch. The duck
swallows the bait, but when he attempts to
| fly away the line pulls the needle crosswise
in his interior, and Goggles" as the sailors
| say.
Blackbirds are often caught in cones Of
| paper, made sticky with birdlime. The
Eskimo has also thought this out. He makes
a cup of wood, and, as he has no birdlime,
he fixes slip-noose made OF split quill at
| the mouth. The Amos, of Japan, also
make cone fox trap filled with sharp spines
pointing inward, so that the animal gets mis-
head in and canIot get it back, like an insect
caught in flower trap of the same kind.
| TURKEYS IN PEN.
'My father caught 25 wild turkeys in a
trap like this" said friend of mine. He
made a pen of rails and dug an inclined
way under it. For several days previously
he scattered corn near the pen to iamiliarizs
the turkeys with the spot, then ne threw
corn along the inclined Hav and in the pen
| and caught the whole flock. You see, a
turkey won't stoop its head to go out by the
way it came in, but tries to get out by
| thrusting its neck between the rails
| How to catch snipe with a rope would be
| too difficult for American country boys we'll
up In the mysteries of fgure-four traps and
double falls. Aino boys solve it thus: Two
boys stretch rope across narrow stream
and hold each an end, while a third drives
the birds toward them. At the proper time
| the boys give the rope a sharp snap upward,
sometimes knocking down several birds.
There are almost as many kinds of traps as
| there are kinds of animals. The African
makes pit traps for the elephant and giraffe,
while the mighty hippopotamus brushes
aside a cobweb from his path and sends an
| arrow into his heart.
CocoANUT TRAPS FOR MONKEYS.
In Brazil the monkey puts his hand into
q cocoanut, grasps the good things placed
therein and becomes a victim because he
will not relinquish his hold. Then there are
decoys. The Samoan live pigeon decoys
are admirably trained. The native, pro-
vided with a net with long handle, sits be-
hind blind and sends out a tethered
trained pigeon which has been taught at the
jerk OF a string to hover around as though
descending upon food. This action brings
down the wild pigeon from the trees, and
when it is engaged with the decoy the na-
| tive scoops him in" with the net.
For ingenuity-one is almost tempted to
say diabolical-in trapping the ESquimaux
excel. They bend up sharpened slips OF
whalebone, freeze them into balls Of fat and
throw them out Tor bears. The bear swal-
lows the fat, which melts in his stomach,
setting free the whslebones, which expand
and pierce his inwards. This device is an.
propriately called "sleep a night and die.''
Another ruse Of the Esquimaux is to
grease a sharp knife blade and set it up for
the wolves to lick. These animals will lick
the knives until their tongues are in ribbons
and they bleed to death. This is hardly a
trap, but it is a shrewd way to rid the world
of ravenous wolves. -.- -.