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So, for this reason Redcoat was rather well fitted to cope with traps. This was why for a long time he avoided all the traps which Bud Holcome set for him, for Bud was determined that the fox's bright red coat should be Kitty Mason's Christmas present. A new muff would be a wonderful present for Kitty, and Bud was determined that he would do his best to get it. So with this in view, he had set trap after trap with all his trapper's skill. Some of these he set by the dry set method and others he placed in water, but Redcoat always detected the iron smell, or the man scent, and left them alone, even when they were baited with chicken heads, which fairly made his mouth water. Then Bud remembered a trapper's dodge of which he had read and he smoked his traps, which took away the steel smell, and he also dusted out his own tracks by using a balsam bough, which was very pungent. But even so, Redcoat usually discovered the ruse and still went free. But sooner or later even the most wary may get caught and Redcoat was no exception to the rule.