242 Poachers and Poaching. 



this is its only redeeming quality. Partridge, 

 grouse, and pheasants all fall a prey to the stoat, 

 and hares when pursued by it seem to become 

 thoroughly demoralised. Water is no obstacle 

 to the ermine, and it climbs trees in search ot 

 squirrels, birds, and eggs. A pair of stoats took 

 up their abode in a well-stocked rabbit warren. 

 The legitimate inmates were killed off by whole- 

 sale, and many were taken from the burrows with 

 the skull empty. The stoat progresses by a 

 series of short quick leaps, which enable it to 

 cover the ground more quickly than could 

 possibly be imagined for so small an animal. 



Enough has been said to sketch the characters 

 of these creatures, and to justify their presence 

 in the larder. Interesting in themselves as wild 

 denizens of the woods, they would be fatal to 

 game-preserving. 



Vulpecide is no great crime in the north. 

 Foxes abound in the fastnesses of the fells, and 

 the little wiry foxhounds that hunt the mountains 

 in winter account for but few in a season ; and 

 so it devolves upon the shepherds and game- 

 keepers and farmers to deal with them. This 

 they do irrespective of season ; if allowed to 

 live, the foxes would destroy abundance of 

 lambs in spring. They are tracked through the 

 snow in winter, shot in summer, and destroyed 

 wholesale when they bring their young to the 



