68 THE RABBIT 



outside of a warren there is always a risk of their 

 breaking down the wire-netting by pressing against it 

 from the outside in their attempts to reach the herb- 

 age within, and some further precaution on this score 

 may be necessary. To obviate this danger Mr. Lloyd 

 Price recommends that short posts, standing a foot 

 above the surface of the ground, should be driven in 

 outside the warren fence, and about two feet away 

 from it, and that a barbed wire should be run along 

 the tops of them ; that is to say, at a height designed to 

 catch the knee of an animal proceeding to examine 

 the permanent fence with a view to offensive opera- 

 tions ; and when once any beast has had a taste of 

 its quality, the low, inoffensive-looking wire is always 

 avoided most carefully in future, thus saving the 

 regular fence from much ill-usage in the shape of 

 horning, rubbing, or other attacks. Of course, this 

 little extra precaution adds to the expense, but it is 

 an excellent safeguard. 



If the warren is not intended to be shot over, but 

 is merely maintained for the purpose of breeding 

 rabbits for the market, they may be taken either by 

 ferreting and netting, or by means of an ingenious 

 contrivance designed by Mr. Simpson, and termed 

 by him a ' rabbit trap-fence.' This is a long piece of 

 wirework, as long as the covert to be worked, say, 50 



