The Irish Terrier. 209 



rule retrieve well therefrom. I have a bitch that will 

 dive many yards after a rat, or rather run in shallow 

 water with her head under, trying to grab it. She 

 will also, if about to kill in the river and the rat 

 dives, dive under and kill ; but often she has to 

 leave go and come up for breath, when the rat sinks. 

 In clear water I have seen her do this, and after- 

 wards get the rat up, so there is no doubt she often 

 kills under water. 



" My terriers sometimes spend a day in digging 

 out a rat ; they go in hammer and tongs, and 

 make a great show of having it out at once, but 

 there is a method in their madness, as they keep 

 an eye on the bolt holes, and after a vigorous 

 scratch, jump up every now and then to see if 

 the rat is trying to escape at the holes either above 

 ground or those below the water line. 



' The Irish terrier is of little use in rabbit 

 shooting ; it is dangerous for the dogs, as they are 

 too near the same colour as the rabbit, and as a 

 rule run mute. I myself have more than once put 

 up the gun at one of the terriers, mistaking it for a 

 hare. They are also too large to penetrate the rabbit 

 runs in the brambles, and the meuses in our white- 

 thorn laid hedgerows often check them. I have killed 

 ten couples in a day by blocking the holes up and 

 hunting the rabbits down. Irish terriers are keen 



p 



