upper end of the pole with syrup.

Another wooden trap is that of the stump and wedge. It is made by
chopping down a tree of not less than half a foot in diameter, so that
a stump is left about six feet high. The stump is then split, and a
long, tapering wedge, well greased, is driven in, and upon it is
smeared a coating of syrup or honey as a bait. The bear will not only
try to lick off the bait, but in his eagerness to pull out the wedge
and lick it, too, will spring the trap and find a paw caught between
the closing stump. Also, the Indians sometimes use a stage from the
top of which they shoot the bear at night while he passes on his
runway; and to attract the bear they imitate the cry of a cub in
distress. Steel traps, too, are set for bears. They are very strong
with big double springs and weigh about twenty pounds. They, too, are
set on the runway of the bears, and are carefully covered with leaves
or moss. No bait is used on the trap, but syrup or honey is spread
upon a near-by tree to induce the bear to step in the trap.


MARASTY AND THE BEAR

But all bear traps are dangerous to mankind and not infrequently a man
is caught in one. In 1899 a half-breed hunter by the name of Marasty,
who lived near Green Lake, about 150 miles north of Prince Albert, went
one late spring day to visit his traps, and in the course of his trip
came upon one of his deadfalls set for bear, from which he noticed the
bait had been removed, although the trap had not been sprung. Before
rebaiting it, however, he built a fire to boil his tea-pail, and sat
down to eat his lunch.