ART OP PULLING HEARTS. 197 



the hind quarters only; the hand with the head 

 and neck is elevated until the body is extended 

 to its utmost. 



The right hand now feels for the heart just 

 below the bottom rib; it niay not be there at 

 once, but it will come. When the animal feels 

 the grip tightening on his throat the sense of 

 strangulation causes the heart to jump down 

 and up in the body in the most violent manner. 

 This the hunter seizes at one of the downward 

 pumps, catches it between the thumb and fingers 

 of the right hand; then pulling the body in one 

 direction and the heart in the other, the heart- 

 strings snap. The animal gives a convulsive 

 quiver and you chuck him down dead. 



Oh yes! it is much better than the brutal 

 way of banging them on the head with the axe 

 handle or a pole, and much more humane be- 

 cause the animal is dead at once, almost as 

 quick as if shocked with electricity. Animals 

 trapped in the late fall, or early snow, cannot 

 be held by the snowshoe, therefore some other 

 means must be taken. It does not do to take 

 any risks of being bitten, for animals after 

 struggling in a trap for some time, become more 

 or less mad, consequently the venom getting 

 into one's blood might cause a very bad wound 

 to heal, especially as the man who hunts can- 

 not avoid the cold getting into the sore, and then 



