132 THE RABBIT 



unfortunate rabbit that gets its head into it. Snares 

 give much less trouble than traps, and are more 

 easily carried about. Their construction, too, is very 

 simple. All that is required are a few pegs about a 

 foot long with a hammer to drive them in, and a few 

 yards of the fine wire used for picture-hanging. The 

 rest is merely manipulation. Picture wire is found to 

 answer the purpose best because it remains in the 

 position in which it is set without kinking. The peg 

 is sharpened at one end and has a hole bored through 

 the other. Through this hole the wire fifteen inches 

 long is passed and tied. With the other end a noose 

 is formed about three inches in diameter with a slip 

 knot which runs up the moment any pressure is made 

 on the noose. The peg is driven well down into the 

 ground, and the wire is set at the height of a hand's 

 breadth above the surface. The thing is simplicity 

 itself, and the art consists in setting it where it is 

 most likely to catch something. How to discover 

 the most likely places can only be learnt by patient 

 observation of the rabbits' haunts and habits. A 

 well-used ' run ' should be selected in preference to 

 one that looks as if only just made, and the snare 

 should be set in or near the middle of it, and not at 

 either end, for a rabbit starts slowly, and not until he 

 has made up his mind to cross from one side of a 



