Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 December 1893 — Trapping the Beaver. [ARTICLE]

Trapping the Beaver.

The famed beaver, in both structure and habits, isrby far the most interesting animal killed and hunted for the sake of its skin. So much was its fur in demand prior to the introduction of silk and rabbit’s fur in the manufacture of hats that the poor little chap had in some districts become nearly exterminated. The beaver trapper, be he white man or Indian, must of necessity lead a solitary, desolate, and dangerous life. To be alone in the wildest solitudes of unknown wastes demands a courage and endurance of no ordinary kind. A beaver is a very difficult animal to trap. The trapper knows at a glance the various marks of the animal, called signs. These discovered, the next step is to find out how the beaver gets to his house, which is generally in shallow water. Then a steel trap is sunk in the-water twelve or fourteen inches below the surface. Immediately over the trap is the bait, made from the castor, or medicine gland of the beaver, suspended from a stick, so as just to clear the water, with a long cord and log of cedar wood as a buoy, the latter to mark the position of the trap when the beaver swims away with it. The fated little builder—perhaps returning to his home and family—scents the tempting castor. He cannot reach it as he swims, so he feels about with his hind legs for something to stand on; this,too, has been craftly placed for him. Pitting down his feet to stretch up for the coveted morsel he finds them suddenly clasped in a steel embrace; there is no hope of escape. The log, revealing his hiding place, is seized by the trapper and the imprisoned beaver dispatched by a single blow on the head. The principal use made of the beaver fur now is in the manufacture of hats and coats. The long hair is pulled out and the under fur shaved down dose and even by a machine.—[Chicago Times.