218 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA. 



shouting at him, and pelting him with stones. The brute 

 forthwith acknowledged the superiority of his assailant, 

 and slunk away into the wood. The lady meanwhile was 

 not a little alarmed by the reconnoitre, and right glad to 

 reach home in safety. It was towards the end of August 

 that this incident occurred, and wolves are rarely found to 

 be so venturesome at this early period of the autumn. 

 As the winter advances, hunger compels them to more 

 daring deeds. 



' Traps of all kinds are employed to catch the wolf in 

 severe weather ; the steel snap-trap, the pitfall, and the 

 split tree like that in which the old bear is represented 

 as caught, in one of Kaulbach's illustrations of " Reineke 

 Fuchs." The last, it is said, is the best snare. Some- 

 times, but very rarely, a fox is caught in it instead of the 

 wolf; but the characteristic cunning of the fox generally 

 prompts him to avoid it. Strychnine also is frequently 

 used to destroy the wolf; and many become the victims 

 of this poison. But the peasants more frequently injure 

 their own property, by resorting to this process of destruc- 

 tion, for their dogs, being left to forage for themselves, 

 are attracted by the poisoned bait, and die in consequence. 



' The fox in Poland, as in Germany, is ingioriously 

 murdered. He certainly has the pleasure in Poland of 

 hearing the music of his pursuers, but his death by the 

 gun is accomplished in a way which would be indignantly 

 condemned by the English fox -hunter. As soon as the 

 hunters are posted in the wood, the dog-keeper lets loose 

 his pack of ten or twelve large clumsily-built hounds, of 

 black or tan colour. They trot away without any order, 

 and speak to every kind of game, hare, fox, or wolf. In 

 brushing about the wood, they often start other game 

 which, if it come in the way of the hunters, hardly ever 

 fails of being shot ; for these hunters are capital marks- 

 men. The wild boar also is frequently started from his 

 lurking-place on these occasions, and is always regarded 

 as game of the first order by Polish sportsmen. 



' There are two kinds of hare. The field or common 



