The Columbus journal., 1892-08-17
KILLING A WOLVERINE.

OF all the rapacious cunning and
mischievous brutes / have ever met
with, the wolverine called also car
cajOu. and glu;ton. is the worst: a
thief. rObber and murderer he Is the
plague and torment OF northern trap
pers and an adverse factor always
when estimating the possible profits
of a fur hunting campaign. So wary
Is he and so acute are his senses of
sight smell and hearing that it Is
well nigh impossible either to get q
shot at him or entice him into trap
He is not a large animal-seldom
weighing over forty pounds-neither
is he swift of foot nor even an agile
climber Gold historians TO the con-
trary Notwithstanding; but his
strength to the square inch is some
thing amazing. What he lacks in size
is more than made up for ty indus.
try. inlexibIe purpose intelligence
and a provision of teeth and claws
which enables him to work greater
havoc in half an hour than many
larger beasts OF prey can effect in half
day.
When l was a boy OF fifteen years
in the county OF Peel Canada I was
an amateur trapper and depended for
pocket money on the sale OF such
otter. mink. fox fisher raccoon.
skunk and muskrat skins as l man.
aged to secure.
One morning early in November. l
went out to visit my eight traps set
in rs many different places in tho
woods and along the bank of the
creek. 10 my surprise found six of
them sprung and the bats gone. But
all of the six were not entirely empty.
In one was an otter's foot and in
three others remnants of mink's legs
Two traps set a few inches below the
surface of the water for muskrats.
had not been disturbed at all
In the backwoods' code of morals
robbing a hunters traps was then
looked upon as a more despicable
crime than stealing from his pockets.
Hence could think of no one in the
neighborhood likely to have edespoiled
mine nor why the thief should have
sprung the empty ones and removed
their bats
There had been a slight frost over
night rendering the ground hard and
could see no tracks of human beings
or dogs anywhere By and by. how
ever while STOPPING down to reset one
of the mink traps near the soft edge
OF the creek. l noticed in a bed OF
dry unfrozen sand. several strange
looking footprints Il but by what
creature made l could not guess.
Clearly they were not those of coon
nor yet of a young bear though some
what resembling both. ! thought l
knew the track Of every animal from
an elk to chipmunk TO be found in
the country. but this one l had Ger
tainly never before seen.
Pesides those left in the traps the
only traces could find of my lost
game were a few drops OF blood and
some tufts of fur scattered along an
old trail which led toward the base of
a great pile of nearly inaccessible
rocks on a distant hill. Greatly Duz-
zled over the whole matter l ran of
home and told my father of the strange
occurrence.
After breakfast he went with me
down 10 the creek; and. instantly. on
seeing the tracks. said: These are
made by a wolverine! had no idea
there was one left in this part of the
country"
Then he told me all he knew of the
animal; and part of that information
along with some afterward gathered
for myself, have embodied in the FORE
going lines. My father concluded by
saying: .Ycull ha e TO more luck
trapping until this brute and his mate.
if he has one are destroyed: but
that's something easier TO talk about
than do"
So. indeed. found it. Day after
day and night after night for two
whole weeks l devoted myself solely
to the task of trying TO circumvent
the cunning thief-without once catch
ing sight of him. Some nights I con-
cealed myself gun. in hand near one
or the other of my traps: again would
lie in wait until day break at the foot
of the rocks hoping to get \ shot rs
he went out or came in. 1t was all
lost labor. When watched the traps
tho beast never came near them.
When stayed all night at the hill
he upset and robbed them at his leis.
ure; but hair of himself he never
showed
owned in those days a hound
afraid OF moth 'ng: and famous over
the whole country side for his track
ing powers and his success in killing
game. Although kindly caut oued
against such a proceeding by my
father l one day took this dog to the
rocky mound determined. if possible.
to find and unearth the disturber of
my peace
Carlo did fird the noxious brute
rather too readily. After had gone
with him on the trail as far as could
climb he dashed away to lot of
rugged powders and few seconds
afterward hoard the savage yelp by
which he always presaged an attack
There were sounds of tussle-
sharp snarling yelps. OF a. kind
SNi stuSO w AuOS iotk'uS DOuoiO9 anu
and scufling movements; but they
lasted barely a half-minutc.
Then Carlo uttered a dismayed
howl and rushed back with ears and
face torn and his whole body rocking
with that fetid fluid the wolverine
cmits as means of defense and COM
pared to which the skunk's odor is the
altar OF roses The brave old hound
did not seem to care much for his
wounds; but that fearful stencil no
self-respecting dog could endure. So
discreetly avoiding ma he sped of to
the creek. and it was not until he had
rolled about in the water for a long
time that he would come near me-
This occurred on the fourteenth day
of my futiie hunt That night though
nearly worn out for want OF sleep I
lay awake for hours revolving plans
to get even with my hateful foe. At
;; last 1 hit upon q scheme which
thought might possibly succeed-pro-
vided the following night should