KEEPERS AND KEEPERING 411 



POACHEKS. 



It has always been customary to divide poachers into two Two kinds 

 classes, the professional poacher, who makes poaching a means of P oacher 

 of livelihood, and the occasional poacher, who only takes game 

 for his own consumption, or to satisfy what is called his sporting 

 instinct for the property of others. 



The professional poacher is a dangerous and undesirable The pro- 

 member of the community, and should receive no mercy. He poacher, 

 is generally devoid of all the finer feelings, and his sole object is 

 to enrich himself by appropriating, in the largest possible 

 quantities, goods that are not his. He usually belongs to the 

 submerged class which is recruited from the ranks of those who 

 have gone under on account of their own shortcomings dis- 

 honesty, drink, or congenital laziness. 



In certain country towns and villages, especially those 

 occupied by a mining or manufacturing population, poaching 

 is not looked upon as a crime, but as a perfectly respectable 

 and often remunerative means of occupying leisure time. Where 

 this spirit exists the task of game preserving is a serious matter, 

 and the preventative measures employed resemble the levee 

 en masse rather than what might be called the keeper's " level 

 of every day's most quiet need." 



Fortunately for the owners of Grouse moors it is the exception 

 to find the professional class of poacher a very serious menace 

 owing to the remoteness of moors from the centres of population. 

 Nevertheless, the armed gangs do occasionally turn their atten- 

 tion to Grouse, as may be proved by the supply of freshly 

 killed birds that appear in the windows of the poulterers' shops 

 on the morning of August 12th, earlier than could have been 

 possible had they been killed in the ordinary course of sport. 



Systematic poaching of Grouse for the market is less common 

 now than it was in former years. The increase in value of 

 Grouse moors has led to more careful watching and to more 

 severe prosecution, the proprietors in the principal game- 



