then catch on so quick. Above all things, never molest
another's traps.

The jump-trap as now made by the Oneida Community has thicker jaws
than the old style and therefore it is not so liable to foot the
animal. I find it a good trap to use.

For mink, a good set is close to a bank and near the edge of the
water. The bait if any is used, should be fresh muskrat, rabbit or
chicken. All are good. If you wish for scent, the musk from the
animal you are trapping is preferable.

One famous trapper says, "any fool knows enough to catch a muskrat."
I doubt whether this man himself, knows how to trap them
successfully. Of course, everyone knows that muskrats should be
trapped along streams or swails where you find their works. For bait
use carrots, cabbage or sweet apples. I like sweet apples best, and
so do the muskrats. Set the trap in about two inches of water, fasten
the chain at full length to a sunken limb, drive a stake on either
side of the chain near where it is fastened and you need not fear
that the rat will "foot" himself. He will soon become entangled and
drown.

Another good set for rats is by scooping a piece out of a sod and
placing it on a stone or root just under the water. Set trap on sod,
fasten the chain as before and scatter bits of apple on the sod.

* * *

Now, boys, as many of you are about to seek new trapping locations,
and as I have had more or less experience in trapping from the
Atlantic to the Pacific, and as I get many letters from brother
trappers as to different trapping locations, I thought perhaps that
it would not come amiss to give you a little of my experience in
regard to this matter. I would advise that before you go to a new
location in other states from those in which you are familiar with
the game laws, that you first write to the State Game Commissioner of
the state that you intend to trap in, enclosing 10 or 15 cents in
stamps, and ask for a copy of the game laws, or for the information
that you desire. The address of the Game Commissioner is usually at
the capital of the different states. Advice on game laws is generally
so meager that it is often misleading, and one relying on newspaper
information, often runs up against problems that he would not have
undertaken had he known the exact truth of the matter. The game laws
of the different states are changed so often that the only way to get
reliable information is to go direct to headquarters. Now, some
states have local