Ground Vermin Traps for Cats. 313 



as to the cause of their disappearance were rife amongst our 

 household. 



For the capture of cats, rabbit gins may be employed, but 

 as for wild cats, they require a firm and tight holding stake, 

 and the wider the jaws are apart the better the " eligible 

 opening." When it is desired to catch a cat that has 

 become obnoxious under the circumstances above related, 

 the rabbit found partly consumed may be employed, but 

 must be left in exactly the position it occupied when 

 found, and the gins be neatly tilled round it ; about four or 

 five will be amply sufficient if the rabbit be not against a 

 wall or bank, when, in such case, two will suffice. For the 

 general trapping of cats the most suitable places are along 

 the outside of plantations enclosed by hedgerows ; at the 

 corners of gateways, along drives cut through a covert, or 

 under the banks of roadway cuttings ; in gravel or stone pits, 

 or any places of a like nature where the inside covert is close. 

 The setting is similar to that for vermin, but care must be 

 taken to choose such a spot beneath where a bait will be 

 placed as appears most convenient for the cat to stand upon 

 in order to reach the lure. For this purpose any of those 

 mentioned will do, but for preference a rabbit, and moreover 

 a small one, fixed up about i8in. above the trap. The best 

 way is to peg it into the wall, allowing the head to hang 

 downwards. The drags described in a former paragraph will 

 be found not only very useful, but exceedingly efficacious in 

 enticing cats to the trap. Tame cats have an extraordinary 

 liking for the scent of valerian, and this liking does not 

 desert them when they indulge in poaching propensities, it 

 always proves a strong inducement to forget that caution 



