The Holly chieftain., 1898-03-11
TRAPPING FOR FUR.
aunters Kept Busy In the Maine
Woods supplying the Trade.

W. OOuh the
Owing 10 thc sudden drop in the price
lf skunk pelts and other coarser kinds
,f furs. the buyers are offering high
igures for prime otter skins. The
Maine woods. frequently. are full OF
men who are making a good living by
trapping.
Though an otter is not a hard an
imal to catch it is very difficult
creature TO hold. Consequently spe-
sial traps have 10 oe made for the busi-
less. The traps. which are toothless.
having wide jaws that pinch without
.utfing, are set along streams near the
biowhoies, where the small fish congre-
gate. II possible, trap is set at the en-
rance of a biowhole. and concealed with
! covering of light brush or snow. y
long chain is made fast TO the ice so
that the animal cannot get away with
the trap. and ten-pound stone is at
tachcd to the trap for the purpose of
browning the otter when il plunges
into the water after getting caught.
Other traps are set in swamps and
bai,ed with fresh fish. Here the traps
are attached TO spring poles that lift
the otter and trap high in the air. These
precautions are taken because an otter
will eat off his legs and set himself
rec five minutes after he is caught un-
ess he is placed in position where he
s unable to bite. Traps are also set
dpon the sides of steep snowy banks
hat lead down to the lakes, so the OF
ters may slide into them when at
play.
There is always good demand for
sable fur. and though these little an
imals are never plentiful in Maine,
they are easily caught. and 70 fur
hunter ever goes TO the woods without
carrying few sable traps. The fa-
vorite way of catching sable is to bore
two-inch auger hole in the trunk
of n growing tree and place honey in
the further end of the hole. Horseshoe
nails are driven in from the outside
so that their points converge on the in
side of the hole. When a sable, at
tached by the smell of the honey, puts
its head into .he hole, the point of ,he
nails catch him by the neck and hold
him until the trapper comes, After the
Naptt - hibNh tht hit - 'As
with a claw hammer. and when they
are reinsertei the trap is SCI. Sables
are also caught in small steel traps
such as are used for muskrats.
The unprecedented demand for pole
cat and lynx skins is due to bounty
of two dollars, which the state offered
last winter. Hitherto nobody would
waste powder on the polecats. as their
pelts were not worth taking Off, bu,
now that the state has made them val
uable, large number of hunters are
earning good wages at catching pole
cats for the bounty. The polecat is an
unsuspecting, needless animal that
may be caught as easily as skunk.
Though this law was not passed until
last March, the state has already paid
out more than $4,000 in polecat boun-
ties. If the supply holds out. good
number of bounty hunters will ge;
rich before spring.
The b,ackcat or fisher. as it is called
in Maine, wears coat tina, is worth
from three to five dollars, according to
size and quality. and is caugh, in fox
traps. The traps are not made fast
to any stationary object, but have tog-
giles of wood attached that leave wide
marks in the snow, and retard the prog.
ress of the animals caught.
1t is estimated tha, $4,000 worth of
furs are taken in Maine every year.
of which otter and foxes furnish $4,000
each, and muskrats $4,000. the other
$4,000 being divided among sable.
mink, blackca,s and lynx.-N. Y. Sun.