The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1962-03-30
Fox Trapping Can Be Exciting Task

had elapsed. This made his fifth
catch in only a week.
He went quickly to work. He
used his own invention" to
control the trapped animal. His
invention is q six-foot length of
pipe with a chain looped on the
business end. He can tighten the
loop around an animals neck
by pulling the free end Of the
chain that extends from the
bottom Of the pipe.
With dexterity, born of prac-
tice. he Tipped the chain around
the fox's neck and pinned the
grey to the ground. With two or
three swift blows. he dispatched
the fox by crushing the chest
cavity. The animal died i'm
mediately. noiselessly and blood
leSsly.
Reset Traps
With the animal dead. it could
be in sp e c t e d more closely,
which we all did. Crute then
went to the task Of re-setting
his trap. There was a little
blood on the trap. so he washed
this clean in the clear, cold
water of brook at the bottom
of the hillside. If you leave
any blood on the trap" he ex-
planned. 1.-The next fox will smell
it and shy away"
He also explained that the
chances were good that the next
night he would catch a male
fox. If he had caught a male
fox, he may as well move the
trap. because the female or an
other male would not be at
tracted.
AS he worked re-setting his
trap, he explained that he had
caught a female fox earlier in
the week, but his hopes of
catching the male were dashed
because a dog had gotten into
the trap first. "Once a dog is
caught in the trap, you have to
move it," he said.
Watching him set his trap,
with professional adeptness and
casual skill, we all realized why
he is regarded as the county
champion" Few tools are
needed The trap itself is hidden
under a thin layer of dirt. Crute
secured his traps in the ground
with a piece of 81 angle iron.
They won't pull this up" he
stated. He uses heavy rubber
gloves so there will not be any
odor, and a trowel to spade UP
the dirt. He Sits the dirt over
the trap using simple screen.
Chicken for Bait
! To complete the process, he
puts a chicken wing in a small
hole, just beyond the trap. One
wing. cut in half to bait two
traps. is the way he does it.
Taking a final look around. he
is ready to move on to the next
trap. already anticipating more
action in few minutes, or
maybe another one in this trap
the following morning.
The traps have to be visited
each morning. as the law re-
quires the trapper to visit every
trap at least once a day. Crute
usually has visited his entire
line before most of us have got
ten out of bed. But early hours
to a dairy farmer come natural
ly and this early tour is usu-
ally anticipated as a skillful
match of his knowledge COM
pared to the wild sagacity of
the fox.
Interesting, But Empty
The rest Of the traps were
empty. but not without excite
ment. In one trap. Crute had
caught a raccoon the night be-
fore. He had baited the trap
with part of the coon's leg. A
fox had visited the bait, but the
cagey denizen of the woods had
apparently had experience with
traps before. The fox had dug a
hole by the edge of the trap,
going underground until he UNI
covered a little corner of the
steel. AS soon as the steel was
discovered the fox left for good,
apparently eciding that a
breakfast of fresh rabbit would
be better than risking his
neck over that bite of raccoon.
You'll never catch that one
with a regular trap" Crutc
said. obviously enjoying match
ing wits with this willy animal.
The only way to catch him is
to set another trap behind this
one, SO when he starts uncov-
ering the first trap, the second
one will get him." He recalled
last year one fox that dug the
trap completely out of the
ground and threw it to one side.
At another trap a little fur
Their down the road, he pointed
out where a fox had stepped all
around the trap, but had not