outdoor living » the 10 bushcraft books » tracks & lures (pt. 2)

.fire removes scent

Fire is a good destroyer of man scent, and if you scorch the trap or snare by making a torch of dry grass or dead leaves, you will cleanse it to the animal's nose, and he will be less suspicious.

.lures

The use of a lure is undoubtedly the most effective way to kill man scent.

Urine of the species of animal you want to trap is an excellent scent killer, and urine of a female of the species taken when she is 'on heat' or 'in season' is an infallible lure for males of' that species. The urine should be taken from the bladder of a newly killed female, and bottled for future use.

Another fairly good lure is oil of aniseed, or oil of rhodium. A very light touch of one of these lures on the bait is all that is required.

Salt is also a very effective lure in areas away from the coast, but salt is not in itself a scent killer.

Noise lures are often highly effective. These may take the form of special whistles, or may be in the form of squeaking or friction instruments. Noise lures are not commonly used in conjunction with traps or snares.

Food lures are always highly effective; small particles of food are scattered lightly around the area of the traps, or snares, and the animal, scenting this food, finds it plentiful in the area, and scavenges round looking for more till finally he finds the bait in the trap, and is caught.

Obviously some of the man scent will be on the food lure particles, and, although the animal may be suspicious at first, finding that no harm comes to him, his suspicions will decrease.

An excellent use for food lure particles is to scatter them thinly along an animal trail, and then fairly thickly on either side of a simple noose snare.

.baits

In the section of this book dealing with animal tracks you saw that there were broadly four different divisions of animal feeding pattern. These were:

• Tree feeding animals,
• Earth digging and feeding animals,
• Flesh eating animals,
• Grazing animals.

Baits for tree feeding animals must be fruits.
Baits for earth digging animals must he roots, or insects.
Baits for flesh eaters must be flesh.
Baits for grazing animals must be herbage.

.test baiting

Test baiting an area will show what animals are in the locality, and what baits they will take. To test bait an area select a site which is on light dusty clean soil that will clearly show all tracks. The area should be 3 or 4 yards [metres] square.

Drive ten or a dozen short stakes, each about 1' [30 cm] long, into the ground. There should be at least 3' [90 cm] between each stake. Tie different baits, some with lures and some without to the stakes. Make a sketch map of the position of the stakes and notes of the bait each carried.

This work should be done in the afternoon. The following morning you must visit the area, and on the soft dust you will see the tracks of all the creatures which visited the area during the night, and what baits they took.

You will see bird tracks at the seeds, and tied up worm (if you put one there). You will see the tracks of tree climbing animals around the stakes where you had a piece of apple, and you will see the digging claw tracks of earth burrowers around a piece of sweet potato or a carrot, while a pumpkin seed will have attracted both a bush rat and a bird.

You will notice, too, that some baits, possibly those with lures, have been untouched, while others have been taken.

This work of test baiting is an essential preliminary to successful trapping. Salt is a good addition to all baits.

.development of sense organs indicates degree of sensitivity

In a general way high development of sense organs indicates degree of sense dependence of the animal.

For example, animals which have large ears have acute hearing, and animals with pronounced nasal development have a sharp alertness to scent.

Sense organ development is not a mere matter of size of the organ.

A human eye, or an eagle's eye, are not as large as a dog's but the development of both the human eye and the eagle's eye far exceed the development of the dog's, they both have a far greater range of adaptability to varying conditions of light, and, something the dog's eye lacks, they are both sensitive to colour.

In the act of seeing there is first a rapid scanning of the area with the eyes. In this scanning, something, it may be movement or any departure from the normal pattern, cries 'stop' to the eyes. This is 'selection', the second part of seeing. Having selected an object for attention, the third stage, 'recognition', commences, and only when this is completed do we 'perceive' or 'see'.

The eye does this continually, and is adapted for 'seeing' under a wide range of light conditions. It also has the ability to see colour and can discern and perceive over a wide range of distances.

In contrast to the human eye with its high state of development, compare the human nose. Its development is so poor that it is of little use as an aid to living. If the meat on your fork is bad your nose might possibly detect the odour, or if cloth is burning you might smell it, but when you consider the scent sensitivity of a deer or a dog which can smell you ½ a mile [800 m] downwind, it is apparent that the human nose tells its owner literally nothing.

Since size alone is not a definite indication of the extent of development of a sense organ, you must rely on your observation to tell you which of an animal's sense organs are most highly developed.

For instance, a dog's nose does not appear to be extremely well developed physically. It is not unduly large, as is the nose of an elephant (its trunk), or the nose and nostrils of a deer, horse or cow.

But by observation, that is 'seeing' and deduction you will learn that a dog's nose is its most highly developed organ, and therefore its most important sense for 'living,' with 'hearing' as the next sense, and 'sight' last on the list.

Watch a dog looking for a stone which you have thrown. His eyes follow it in flight, but when he is seeking where he thinks it has fallen you see him running round with his nose to the ground, and it is his nose, and not his eyes which find the stone for him, and he selects the stone from among hundreds of others solely because it has your scent on it.

Watch a horse when you hold a carrot out to him on the palm of your hand. First he puts his nostrils to it, rarely if ever his eyes, then he takes it in his lips.

.when a sense organ is highly developed the animal makes use of that sense organ in preference to its other senses

In a general way an animal's feeding habits tell you much about its sense development. For instance all digging animals must have a strong scent development in order to find food hidden in the earth.

All flesh eating animals must have good near sight development to stalk and find their food. They must also have a good distant scent development to be aware of food which may be hidden and out of direct sight.

All grazing animals must have very good scent development to select the choice morsels of herbage for their food, and also to warn them of an approaching enemy. They also must have good hearing development, and finally they must have good sight development to recognise an enemy and to see which is the best direction for escape. Since many grazing animals feed by night as well as by day, the eye must be very large in size in order to take in more light at night, but this is purely a matter of size and not necessarily of actual development or high sensitivity.

.similarity of form does not mean similarity of habit

Animals which appear similar in shape and form do not necessarily have similar habits. Rabbits and hares are similar in shape and form and feeding habits, but very different in habits.

Rabbits, as you know, live in colonies underground, but hares live singly in a 'form,' or nest, on the surface.

When a rabbit is alarmed it seeks safely in the warren.

When a hare is alarmed it seeks its safety in running at speed. A rabbit is attracted by newly dug earth. A hare prefers grassland and avoids new ground.

This dissimilarity of animal habits within their own family group or species exists throughout the whole animal kingdom. One type of wild dog will hunt in packs, and another will hunt singly, as does the fox. One member of the cat family will climb trees, and pounce on its prey from overhead: another species will stalk its prey at a drinking pool and make its kill there.

One species of kangaroo or deer will live on open plains, and another species will avoid open country, and live only in forest land, while yet another species prefers hilly or rocky country. One type of pigeon feeds solely on fruits growing on trees and another type will prefer ground feeding, selecting fruits which have fallen to the ground, and ground growing seeds and grain.

.the balance of nature

Over countless ages a balance between the different forms of life has been attained.

As a simple example, if all the animals of a country were grass eating, there would be no check on their population growth, the grass which is their food would eventually be destroyed, and as a species the grass eating animals would die out in a couple of generations. There would be no balance.

Introduce flesh-eating animals into these conditions. They live on the grass eaters, and also on one another, and the population of all is kept at a lower level. Further, the weaker animals are killed off, and the stronger alone survive to breed.

In a short time a balance between grass eaters and flesh eaters has been achieved.

This is the balance of nature.

Continuous destruction of wild life can easily upset this balance, and, like a chain reaction, the unbalance spreads. The uneven balance of nature can also be caused by the introduction of either a plant or animal foreign to the country.

In one part of New Zealand domestic cats gone wild became a plague. The cat plague was finally traced to the introduction of red clover.

It happened this way. The red clover is very deep throated, and only one species of bee could extract the nectar. This species of bee made its hive in the earth. With the plentiful supply of honey, this type of bee increased rapidly. A certain type of field mice liked the honey of this bee, and they too increased in population, feeding on the earth hives of the red clover bees. With the increase of mouse population the cat population flourished until finally the cats assumed plague proportions.

Excessive trapping also can upset this balance of nature, but trapping used intelligently can help nature to restore its balance. Trapping can also be extremely valuable as an aid to the extermination of pests.

.trapping and character training

It has been shown that trapping calls not only for an extensive knowledge of the mechanics of bush-made traps, but also for a thorough study of the habits and ways of life of all wild creatures.

The person who undertakes the work of trapping, whether for a livelihood or as a means of studying wild creatures at close quarters (as the artist and the zoologist must do) must be a person of wide understanding and great tolerance.

Trapping naturally brings about a love of wild animals, because it effects a full and complete understanding of their ways of life.

No true trapper could be cruel to wild creatures. His sympathies are too large to endure cruelty. The best way in the world to engender a love of wild animals is to be a trapper. Only then can you realise how intelligent and lovable all the wild creatures are.

This does not apply to the average professional rabbit trapper, who is a trapper solely because it provides him with an easy means of making money quickly.

There are exceptions, too, among wild dog hunters, or 'doggers'. Many doggers relish the challenge which is put up to them by a savagely intelligent 'killer' dog with a big reward on its scalp. For these, the dogger has to use all his skill and cunning to match that of the wild dog.

To be efficient in trapping work the trapper must possess infinite patience, he must be able to stalk a wild animal in order to observe it at close quarters. He must learn about its sensitivities. In this and all the other work called for in trapping his own sensitivities are sharpened, and his intelligence and observation developed to a remarkable degree.

No people equal the native in powers of observation and deduction. This is due to the single fact that the native depends solely upon his hunting for his food.

What hunting has done for the native in perfection of his powers of observation, trapping can do for the white man to a lesser degree.

This development of observation and cultivation of the powers of deduction, coupled to the painstaking care which is necessary to all trapping work, play a major part of character development of an individual.

For example, in stalking an animal to observe it at reasonably close quarters, the would-be trapper soon learns that he must approach up wind, he learns to take advantage of every scrap of cover, and to avoid showing himself on the skyline. He learns that he can approach the animal more easily if he keeps still when the wind is still, and moves when gusts of wind move the bushes, stirring them into action. Only then will his movements pass unseen by the animal he is stalking. With the development of his observation, and aided by his intelligence he soon finds out that he can place an obvious object such as a piece of white rag on a distant bush where it will constantly attract the animal's suspicious attention, and, taking advantage of this, he can circle and approach from the opposite direction.

The making of a trap out of bush materials calls for a ready eye to see the right sticks quickly, and requires cunning, and coordination of head and hand to cut and shape the sticks correctly. Having made the trap, it must be sited in the right place, and then watched. All this calls for observation and infinite patience. Once the animal is caught there cones with its capture an appreciation of its apparent helplessness, and a sympathy with its predicament. This in turn leads to a genuine love of all wild life.

.is trapping cruel?

Nature lovers will contend that trapping is cruel and unnecessary.

Undoubtedly this is true of much of the trapping which takes place now, and has taken place in the past. Trapping for the skins is cruel, wasteful and not in any way productive of good. Similarly in other countries trapping of animals for the pelts threatened whole species of wildlife with extinction.

The general run of mechanical trapping is extremely cruel. Most animal traps are similar to the common rabbit trap. A device with two steel jaws that clamp onto an animal's leg generally breaks it, and holds the creature in agony until it is killed, possibly hours later, by the trapper.

These traps are not discriminatory. Protected animals and even birds are caught in rabbit traps set near warrens by river banks. Pets, too, are caught and their legs broken so they either have to be destroyed or left maimed for life. Trapping of this nature is cruel and wasteful.

Trapping can be humane, and need not in any way cause suffering or extreme distress to the wild animal. Pen and box type traps can be used to catch animals alive. These type of traps cause the animals no discomfort or pain. Other types of traps such as logfalls kill instantly. The wild creature is not left in lingering agony for hours. When it touches the bait, death is merciful, and instant.

It is vitally important in all trapping work that you should never leave the trap, if set, unattended for more than a few hours.

A set but unattended trap may catch and hold an animal captive. The animal in the trap may either perish through lack of water or food, or may dig its way out; if the pen of the trap is made of stakes driven into the ground.

The trapping of small birds such as painted finches, larks, thrushes, lovebirds and parrots, where it is desired to capture them for sale into captivity, is cruel. It may be argued that these creatures' lives are more secure when caged, and have freedom equal to their wild life if under proper conditions.

The trouble is that they rarely are under proper natural conditions when in captivity, and except for the 'lure' type of cage trap, the trapping methods are cruel, and very destructive of life. (The method of trapping small birds for pets usually makes use of snares on a stick set in a bush or tree which the birds frequent.)

This writer recommends to every bush-lover that if they ever see a snare stick they should destroy it immediately, without any regard for the feelings of the person who made it and placed it.

It will be argued also by many bush-lovers that it is not in the best interest of the community to make information about trapping or traps public. These people will delude themselves into the belief that small boys will set up traps and snares indiscriminately, to the immediate peril and destruction of all wild life. They will argue too that all trapping is cruel, and unnecessary. No bush-bred boy will trap unnecessarily, and no city-bred boy would have the essential knowledge of the wild to be able to trap anything with effect. Trapping is not effective unless the trapper completely understands the habits and life of the wild creatures. This is something completely foreign to the city-bred boy.

.reasons for trapping

The trapping of wild creatures, whether bird or animal, can only be justified on the grounds of 'Preservation'. Some wild animals prey on other less aggressive species - particularly is this true of the domestic cat, which, having gone bush, becomes the No. 1 killer of wild life. Cats are difficult to poison. They regurgitate the bait and continue their destruction unaffected. Fortunately they are comparatively easy to trap and when captured can be destroyed. Dogs which have gone bush, or which have mated with wild dogs, and also foxes, rank with cats as destroyers of native life.