e. The latter gives proof of this
by many of his habits; one in particular fully illustrates his cunning.
It is this. The marten-trappers of the Hudson Bay territory set their
traps in the snow, often extending over a line of fifty miles. These
traps are constructed out of pieces of wood found near the spot, and are
baited with the heads of partridges, or pieces of venison, of which the
marten (_Mustela martes_) is very fond. As soon as the marten seizes
the bait, a trigger is touched, and a heavy piece of wood falling upon
the animal, crushes or holds it fast. Now the wolverene _enters the
trap from behind_, tears the back out of it before touching the bait,
and thus avoids the falling log! Moreover, he will follow the tracks of
the trapper from one to another, until he has destroyed the whole line.
Should a marten happen to have been before him, and got caught in the
trap, he rarely ever eats it, as he is not fond of its flesh. But he is
not satisfied to leave it as he finds it. He usually digs it from under
the log, tears it to pieces, and then buries it under the snow. The
foxes, who are well aware of this habit, and who themselves greedily eat
the marten, are frequently seen following him upon such excursions.
They are not strong enough to take the log from off the trapped animal,
but from their keen scent can soon find it where the other has buried it
in the snow. In this way, instead of their being providers for the
wolverene, the reverse is the true story. Notwithstanding, the
wolverene will eat _them_ too, whenever he can get his claws upon them;
but as they are much swifter than he, this seldom happens. The foxes,
however, are themselves taken in traps, or more commonly shot by guns
set for the purpose, with the bait attached by a string to the trigger.
Often the wolverene, finding the foxes dead or wounded, makes a meal of
them before the hunter comes along to examine his traps and guns. The
wolverene kills many of the foxes while young, and sometimes on finding
their burrow, widens it with his strong claws, and eats the whole family
in their nests. Even young wolves sometimes become his prey. He lives,
in fact, on very bad terms with both foxes and wolves, and often robs
the latter of a fat deer which they may have just killed, and are
preparing to dine upon. The beaver, however, is his favourite food, and
but that these creatures can escape him by taking to the water--in which
element he is no