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Updated: April 30, 2025
All footprints should be carefully obliterated by throwing water upon them, and some trappers say that the mere act of spitting on the ground in the neighborhood of the traps has been known to thwart success. Almost the only bait used in trapping the beaver is the preparation called "barkstone" by the trappers, or "castoreum" in commerce.
The Barkstone is used both pure and in combination with other substances, the following prescription being much used: Into the contents of about ten of the castor bags, mix two ground nutmegs, thirty or forty cloves, also powdered, one drop essence of peppermint, and about two thimblefuls of ground cinnamon.
The application and use of each is fully described in its proper place hereafter. This substance, commonly known as "Barkstone," by trappers and fur dealers, is obtained from the beaver, and is a remarkable aid in the capture of that animal. It is an acrid secretion of a powerful musky odor, found in two glands beneath the root of the tail of the beaver.
"That's a skin that will be worth something," said Dick, "and here are more, but before we begin the work of taking them off, you'll have to be braced up, Al. You need a stimulant." He hurried back to Castle Howard and brought one of the bottles of whisky, a little store that they had never touched except in the compounding of the barkstone for the capture of beaver.
"I'll do that," was the answer, and the very next day the old hunter made for them a trap to catch birds, another for mink and also a beaver trap. "When I come ag'in I'll bring you something to put in the beaver trap," said the hunter. "It's a stuff we call barkstone. The beavers can't resist it nohow. As soon as they smell it they have to walk right into the trap after it."
They put eight or ten drops of the barkstone upon the bait for the beaver, or somewhere near the trap, and, despite some defects in the composition, it proved an extraordinary success. The wariest beaver of all would be drawn by it, and their beaver bales grew faster than any other.
This substance is fully described on page 150 under the head of "Scent Baits." To the barkstone the trapper is mostly indebted for his success, and the effect of its odor on the beaver is something surprising.
This at first was of a yellowish-red color, but after a while, when it dried, it became a light brown. This substance formed the main ingredient of barkstone, and in their medicine chest they found a part of the remainder. The secretion was transferred to a bottle and the mixed with it essence of peppermint and ground cinnamon.
They are far more careless of their safety than the other beavers, and are thus easily caught by the trappers. The body of the beaver contains a curious odoriferous substance, called by the trappers barkstone, but more scientifically "castor," or "castoreum." It is contained in two little bags about the size of a hen's egg, and is of a brownish, unctuous consistency.
In their pursuit of furs, they found that they were not quite so sparing of the game as they had been at first. Some of their scruples melted away. Albert now recalled a device of trappers of which he had read. This was the use of a substance generally called barkstone, which they found to be of great help to them in the capture of that animal.
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