WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS 



bodies of this animal, therefore, no risk is run of destroy- 

 ing your dogs. An equally good way of applying strychnia 

 is in the body of a wild duck or a wood-pigeon. Many a 

 fox, whose worldly experience nearly ensures him safety 

 from trap or gin, will fall a victim to this poison; for so 

 small a quantity is necessary, and so scentless is it, that a 

 sufficient dose is swallowed before the animal discovers its 

 presence in anythingwhich he is eating. From the extreme 

 rapidity with which it acts, destroying life almost instant- 

 aneously, it is perhaps as merciful a way of putting an end 

 to noxious and troublesome animals as can be devised, and 

 no method can be more certain. I have always been of 

 opinion that nine keepers out of ten who carry guns are 

 but of little use in destroying vermin. The grand desider- 

 atum in preserving game is, that the animals should be left 

 in perfect quiet. A man walking about with a gun in his 

 hand, shooting at magpies and crows, does nearly as much 

 mischief to the preserves as if he shot at the game itself 



A quiet intelligent trapper does more good in killing 

 vermin than a dozen men with guns. The former sees a 

 pair of crows, or a stoat; if he is well skilled in his profes- 

 sion, the creatures are dead by the next day, having been 

 caught without noise and without disturbing a single head 

 of those animals which are required to be kept in peace 

 and quiet. The shooting keeper in making his way through 

 woods and coverts to get shots at vermin, often fails in kill- 

 ing it, but is sure to disturb and molest the game, driving 

 it here and there, and exposing it to the view and attacks 

 of hawks and poachers. I have always a far better opinion 

 of the usefulness of a keeper when I see him with a num- 



58 



