Squirrels may be skinned either by ripping up the belly, or in a whole piece, as described in regard to the fox.

We pause before going further into the mysteries of trapping in connection with the animals which we are about to consider, as they are generally exempt from the wiles of the trapper’s art, coming more properly in the field of the hunter or sportsman.  The idea of trapping a deer, for instance, seems barbarous indeed; but are not all the ways of deceiving and killing these splendid animals equally so?  Are not the various strategies and cunning devices of the sportsman, by which these noble creatures are decoyed and murdered, equally open to the same objection?  As far as barbarity goes, there is to us but little choice between the two methods; and, generally speaking, we decry them both, and most especially do not wish to be understood as encouraging the trapping of these animals, except where all other means have failed, and in cases where their capture becomes in a measure a matter of necessity.  This is often the case in the experience of professional trappers.  The life of the trapper during the trapping season is spent almost entirely in the wilderness, often many miles from any human habitation; and at times he is solely dependent upon his gun or trap for his necessary food.

Sometimes in a dry season, when the leaves and twigs crackle under foot, the rifle is as good as useless, for it becomes impossible to approach a deer within shooting range.  And there are other times when ammunition is exhausted, and the trapper is thus forced to rely only on his traps for his supply of food.  In such circumstances, the necessities of the trapper are paramount, and the trapping of deer, in such straits, as the most desirable food is rather to be recommended than condemned.  The same remarks also in a measure apply to the moose and prong-horn antelope, as well as to several other animals hereinafter mentioned, as they are generally considered more in the light of the hunter’s than the trapper’s game.

[Page 215] THE DEER.

There are upwards of eight varieties of this animal which inhabit North America.  The common red or Virginian deer is found throughout the United States.  The stag or Wapiti deer is now chiefly confined to the country west of the Mississippi and northward to British America.  The moose we shall speak of hereafter.  The Rocky Mountain mule deer, and the long-tailed deer of the same locality, are two more species, and there are also the black-tailed deer and the reindeer, the latter of which is a native of British America.  The scope of our volume will not of course admit of detailed directions for trapping each variety, but, as the habits of all the species are in a measure similar, our remarks will apply to them in general, and particularly to the red or Virginian deer, which is the most important to American trappers.

The trap for taking deer should be large, strong, and covered with spikes.  The Newhouse (No. 4) is particularly adapted, and is especially arranged for this purpose.