ds on its journey. It is by this means
that the beaver, muskrat and mink are enabled to travel such great
distances beneath unbroken ice, and it is certainly a very novel
and interesting method. Where the ice is thin and transparent these
animals are sometimes captured through the means of this habit.
A heavy stroke on the frozen hut will drive its occupants to the
water, and their course may easily be followed through the ice.
If one of them is tracked, he will presently be seen to stop at
the surface of the water for fresh oxygen, as already described.
The bubbles will soon appear, and if the hunter immediately strikes
with an axe or heavy stick directly on the spot, the submerged
animal will be literally driven away from its breath, and will
of course drown in a very few minutes. A short search will soon
reveal the dead creature, after which he may be taken out through
a hole cut in the ice. Otter and mink are sometimes taken in the
same way. In many localities great numbers of muskrats are also
captured by spearing, either through the ice or through the walls
of their houses. In the latter case, two are often taken at once.
This method is quite uncertain and unreliable, as the walls of
the hut are often so firmly frozen as to defy the thrust of the
hardest steel, and a fruitless attempt will drive the inmates from
their house at once. The spear generally used consists of a single
shaft of steel about eighteen inches in length and half an inch
in diameter, barbed at the point, and is feruled to a
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solid handle five feet long. In spearing through the hut the south
side is generally selected, as being more exposed to the heat of
the sun. Great caution is necessary, as the slightest noise will
drive out the inmates. The spear should be thrust in a slanting
direction, a few inches above the surface of the ice. Where many
houses exist it is well to destroy all but one. Into this the whole
tribe will centre, and by successive spearing they may all be captured.
When the spear has been thrust into the house, it must be thus
left until a hole is cut with a hatchet, through which to remove
the game. Spearing through the ice is a better method, but for
general service there is no means of capture more desirable than
by trapping. The steel trap No. 1 or 2 is the size particularly
adapted for the muskrat, and may be set in various ways. The most
common method is to set the trap under two inches of water on the
project