ENEMIES OF THE GAME-REARER 



digression, though the author hopes to hear more of it 

 at some future time. 



The necessity for the study of the habits of the 

 multifarious enemies of game is interlinked with their 

 destruction, as it is only by an intimate knowledge of 

 their various habits that they can be persuaded to fall 

 victims to their own depredations. To become a suc- 

 cessful trapper the whole matter is based upon this 

 fact. 



Knowledge is power, and its introduction into the life 

 of a keeper is as indispensable as in any other occupation. 

 Although it is the special province of the gamekeeper to 

 wage war against the enemies of his charge, it is some- 

 what surprising to note the remarkable differences amongst 

 game - preservers concerning the destructive influences 

 attributed to birds of prey and to vermin. Upon some 

 points keepers are agreed, whereas, as just stated, they 

 are at variance relative to others. Honest differences of 

 opinion contribute to the elucidation of facts, and it is in 

 the practical exposition of these that the best results are 

 most likely to be obtained. Resourcefulness and tact 

 do, however, go a long way in the preservation of 

 game, and unless the gamekeeper can outwit those of his 

 enemies, his losses will be in ratio to the amount of vermin 

 infesting the coverts. 



The preservation of foxes and game is so diametrically 

 opposed that one has a difficulty in believing that it can 

 be carried on successfully, nevertheless it is done, and, be 

 it said, to the credit of the keeper. The protection of the 

 eggs, the sitting Pheasant, the young broods, and what may 

 be termed Pheasants in the undergraduate stage — that is 

 when they are removed to coverts and before they learn 

 the art of roosting — constitute in the main the most im- 



189 



