316 Practical Game Preserving. 



each piece a loop about Jin. long, and very strong. If one 

 is well up in it, splicing is the best way of securing this 

 loop, using what is known as the eye splice, but if other- 

 wise, then we prefer the bowline knot, as the tidiest and 

 least likely to give way in fact, it cannot slip. To tie 

 it on to the stake, push the end opposite to the loop 

 through the hole in the stake, and draw the wire through 

 about 6in. ; then, holding the loose wire with the loop, 

 level with the stake and beneath the hole, take the other 

 end of the wire and pass it right round the stake under 

 the loose wire, and then back again through the hole, 

 making the end pass between the wire that is round the 

 stake and this latter itself. Complete the fastening by 

 a hitch over the loop wire. If this be done as directed, 

 one has formed the same sort of knot used for tying 

 scaffolding together, with the exception that one turn of 

 the knot, instead of passing right round the stake, only 

 goes half way and then back througtt the hole bored 

 for this purpose. This constitutes the whole manner of 

 making snares suitable for cats, and as the cost is so 

 slight, any number can be made. 



The best spots for these snares are rabbit holes in hedge- 

 rows, if any exist in close proximity to the dwelling. To 

 set these, having damped, say, a small piece of cloth, or 

 any such material, with a few drops of tincture, place it 

 about a foot within a nice round bolt hole level with the 

 ground ; then drive in the stake to the required depth, 

 that is, so far till the hole in it is about one-third from 

 the upper side of the rabbit hole ; then form a running 

 noose by drawing the wire through the loop at the end 



