384 LETTERS TO YOUNG SHOOTERS LETTER 



many burrows in an hour as it would take a man 

 with ferrets an entire day to attend to, for ferrets will 

 often perversely remain underground, and require 

 frequent digging to free them, or else perhaps fasten 

 to a rabbit, and refuse to leave it. 



The first time in the current season you bolt 

 your rabbits, utilise fuse and paper saturated with 

 spirits of tar. 



The second time you will probably have to resort 

 to ferrets, as rabbits never bolt on the second occasion 

 nearly so freely as they do on the first. 



The third time you may be forced to dig most of 

 your rabbits out in fact, catch them and turn them 

 loose, as, from their previous experiences, they will 

 often prefer to die in their burrows rather than quit 

 them for a third time. 



' We will suppose a party of friends are engaged to 

 shoot with you on a WEDNESDAY; you have, therefore, 

 MONDAY and TUESDAY to devote to bolting your rabbits 

 in readiness for the day's sport. 



' If you wish to kill, let us say, about 300 rabbits 

 in the day, you will have to show above ground from 

 350 to 400, though this is a question that will in some 

 measure depend on the weather, on the amount of 

 shelter available, and also whether the rabbits have a 

 chance of avoiding the guns. 



