CHAPTER FOUR THE WILD CAT 



the hand, so suspicious is this animal of the slightest taint 

 of man. The most artistic way is to catch a rabbit or crow 

 in a trap, and having killed it with a stick, a small slit 

 should be cut in the head, without however touching the 

 animal with the hand; into this hole three or four grains of 

 the poison called strychnia should be dropped. So power- 

 ful is this poison, that a fox having eaten the above quan- 

 tity seldom goes thirty yards before he dies. Strychnia is 

 the concentrated part of Nux vomica. Though frequently 

 much adulterated, it can generally be obtained of sufficient 

 strength from any respectable druggist. The strychnia is, 

 I believe, mixed with a little alkali, to prevent its power 

 being destroyed by exposure to the air. In poisoning crows 

 with it, a very small quantity is sufficient, and it should be 

 put into a slit in the skin or the eye of a dead animal. Be- 

 fore a carrion crow has taken three or four pecks at the 

 poisoned carrion he falls backwards perfectly dead. Wea- 

 zels, stoats, and all vermin are destroyed by it with equal 

 ease. The drug having no smell, these animals are not shy 

 of eating a dead rabbit or bird on which it has been placed. 

 Foxes and large vermin always commence at the head of 

 their prey, while for smaller vermin and birds a hole should 

 be cut in the skin to receive the poison, as they generally 

 begin their operations wherever they see an opening, 

 where the flesh is exposed to view. It is needless to give 

 a warning against using this powerful drug rashly, as no 

 man in his senses would place it anywhere but in the most 

 secure situations. It is worth remembering, that foxes, car- 

 rion crows, and many other destructive animals will eat a 

 dead rat, whereas no dog will do so. By poisoning the dead 

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