The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1923-05-03
WILD LIFE STUDIES
ON A FUR TRAP LINE

being caught in a trap! Every
trapper asks and is asked thai
question hundreds of times, bu
few indeed are those who can truth
fully answer it affirmatively."
Such was the observation of ar
experienced trapper who has spent
many delightful years pursuing anG
studying the ways of this widest OF
animals.
''The coyote has a scent and hear
ing so keen that it is a rare cir
cumstance indeed that man car
approach within half mile OF one
without it knowing of his pres
ence. But there are exceptions te
this rule. 1t is possible occasionally
to get wind on them or to outwit
them in one way or another ana
they sometimes seem to be obllvlous
to your approach for unexplainable
reasons.
Zone popularity of the wolf genus
is that it seldom is known to
tackle anything in the form OF a
Dait or contraption left or placed
by the hand of man the first night
after these have been placed or lett
out, as the case may be. 1t is sci
dom, indeed, that coyote Is
trapped the first night after the
crap has been set, occasionally be-
ing trapped the second night and
more often the third. This Is the
eason why real trapper never
lists his traps every day. The
.nimal is able to detect the human
cent and to see any sort Of marks
IN the ground about the setting
and is leary of them. 1t is not
until the human scent is gone and
other indications in the nature of
scratches and footprints on the
ground have been oimmed that 1t
will venture close and put its foot
n the concealed trap in an at
tempt to carry away the bait or to
investigate the scent entanatlng
from the spot if only the latter Is
used.
This is how it so rarely happens
hat one is seen to step into a trap.
IN many years in the business |
ave been told of but one case and
| have never actually seen one, but
came so near to seeing one caught
that it amounts to the same thing
and might as well be put down as
having been seen.
THE person who told of seeing
one caught l have no reason to
doubt. His story was reasonable
and | believe it. 1t was more than
zen years ago, before the rabies and
the high price of their furs in war
times thinned them out and they
were far more tame and bod than
they are now. Some traps had been
set around the carcas of dead
norse, which was off a few hundred
yards from the camp of the men
who had set the traps and were
working there. Nearly dusk one
evening a big coyote paced right
up to the carcas and instantly tried
to jump over the moon. 1t was
jerked back to earth and proceeded
to bite its tethered foot. Its antics
were in the nature of an epic of
animal struggles with the inevitable,
but it soon was laid out by its
human captor and its hide pulled
off.
81 was riding a trap line up and
down a series of draws at the south
side of Checrelon canyon, in north
ern Arizona. These draws were
grassy meadows, with some large
cedar trees and the ridges between
them heavily wooded with scrub
cedars. | had ridden into the last
of some three or four of these
draws, striking it near the upper
end, the point being where l had
setting of two traps in the edge
of the COW trail, the traps being
chained to a long pole. Cows had
sprung one of the traps and
made few signs as possible after
sliding off my horse in resetting it.
| placed little coyote scent on the
bait and rode up the draw a quar-
ter of a mile to look after two
more settings. / was not gone ten
minutes and half way back | saw a
coyote heading diagonally down the
draw, making a bee line for that
setting. 1t was going at a good
gait, almost trot, and was after
something that was attracting it
1t had not noticed me. | had the
wind on it and the same wind was
carrying the odor of that fresh
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