rs is the usual
resort.

Coming to an open space along the creek, the wise old Owl concluded
from the fox signs he had already seen, and from the condition of the
soil on a cut bank, that it was a desirable place in which to set a
steel trap for foxes. Laying aside his kit, he put on his trapping
mits, to prevent any trace of man-smell being left about the trap, and
with the aid of his trowel he dug into the bank a horizontal hole about
two feet deep and about a foot in diameter. He wedged the chain-ring
of the trap over the small end of a five-foot pole to be used as a clog
or drag-anchor in case the fox tried to make away with the trap. The
pole was then buried at one side of the hole. Digging a trench from
the pole to the back of the hole, he carefully set the trap, laid it in
the trench near the back of the hole, so that it rested about half an
inch below the surface of the surrounding earth, covered it with thin
layers of birch bark (sewed together with _watap_--thin spruce roots)
then, sifting earth over it, covered all signs of both trap and chain,
and finally, with a crane's wing brushed the sand into natural form.
Placing at the back of the hole a duck's head that Ne-geek had shot for
the purpose, Oo-koo-hoo scattered a few feathers about. Some of these,
as well as the pan of the trap, had been previously daubed with a most
stinking concoction called "fox bait"--hereafter called "mixed bait" to
prevent confusing this with other baits.

It was composed of half a pound of soft grease, half an ounce of
aniseed, an eighth of an ounce of asafoetida, six to ten rotten birds'
eggs, and the glands taken from a female fox--all thoroughly mixed in a
jar and then buried underground to rot it, as well as for safe keeping.
The reason for such a concoction is that the cold in winter does not
affect the stench of asafoetida; aniseed forms a strong attraction for
many kinds of animals; foxes are fond of eggs; and no stronger lure
exists for an animal than the smell of the female gland. So powerful
is the fetor of this "mixed bait," and so delicious is the merest whiff
of it, that it forms not only an irresistible but a long-range
allurement for many kinds of fur-bearers. Indeed, so pungent was it,
that Oo-koo-hoo carried merely a little of it in a cap-box, and found
that a tiny daub was quite sufficient to do his work. The reason for
using the two kinds of bait was that while the mixed bait would attract
the animal t