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Camp Life in the Woods and the Tricks of Trapping and Trap Making by William Hamilton Gibson
page 48 of 401 (11%)
with burnt honey-comb. The odor of honey will tempt a bear into
almost any trap, and even into such close quarters as the above
he will enter without the slightest suspicion, when a feast of
honey is in view.

For the cougar, or puma, the best bait is a live lamb or a young
pig, encaged in a small pen erected at the end of the trap. A fowl
is also excellent. When thus baited, the setting of the trap is
varied. The upright post at the top of the trap is inserted nearer
the front, and the cross pole is stouter. The auger hole is bored
in the top of the trap, through the centre of one of the logs, and
about twenty inches from the back end of the trap. The spindle is
dispensed with and the end of the string is provided with a large
knot, which is lowered through the auger hole, and is prevented
from slipping back by the insertion of a stick beneath. This stick
should be about three feet in length, and of such a size at the
end as will snugly fit into the auger hole. It should be inserted
delicately, merely enough to hold the knot from slipping back, and
so as to be easily released by a slight movement in any direction.

This mode of setting is more fully detailed on page 52. As the
puma steals in upon his prey he dislodges the stick, the lid falls,
and he finds himself imprisoned with his intended victim. This
trap is much used in India and Asia for the capture of the tiger,
and the jaguar of South America is frequently entrapped by the
same devices.


THE PIT-FALL.

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