ll, a half-breed at York Factory, once had a different
experience. He had been on a visit to an Indian camp with his
dog-train and on his way back found a white fox in one of his traps.
He stunned it in the usual way and pressed his foot over its heart; and
when he was sure it was dead, placed it inside his sled-wrapper and
drove home. On arriving at the Fort he unhitched his sled from the
dogs, and leaving them harnessed, pulled his sled, still containing its
load, into the trading room; where, upon opening the wrapper to remove
the load, the fox leaped out and, as the door was closed, bolted in
fright straight through the window, carrying the glass with it, and
escaped before the dogs could be released from their harness.

There are, however, other ways of catching the fox. One is to chop a
hole in the ice on a river or lake, fill the hole with water and place
in it a "hung" white-fish, in such a position that, when the water
freezes, about one third of the fish will protrude above the ice. Then
in the usual way, but without bait or sign, set one or two traps near
the fish. When the fox arrives, he may succeed in eating the fish's
head, but when he tries to dig the rest of the fish out of the ice, he
will become too interested to remain cautious, and in shifting his
place of stance will soon be taken prisoner. But sometimes a knowing
old fox will first dig about in the snow, and on finding the trap, will
thereafter be able to eat the fish in safety.

Mention of the fish bait recalls what strange things occasionally
happen in relation to hunting. A half-breed hunter, named Pierre
Geraud, living near Fort Isle a la Crosse, in laying out his trapping
trail one winter, had set one of his mink deadfalls in a swamp close to
the water-line; and on visiting the trap after the spring flood, found
a large pike caught in it. All the signs showed that when the flood
had been at its height the fish had been swimming about, and on
discovering the bait set for mink had seized it, and in trying to make
away with it had set off the trap, the heavy drop-log falling and
killing the fish.

When I expressed surprise that an animal should have intelligence
enough not only to find a buried trap, but to dig it up and then spring
it without being caught, Oo-koo-hoo explained that it was not so much a
matter of animal intelligence as of man's stupidity; for whenever that
happened it did not prove to the animal's credit, but to man's