

Ground Vermin The Fox in Pursuit. 373 



bait, with safety, of course, to itself. Sometimes it is able 

 to succeed, but occasionally the trapper's ingenuity proves 

 too much for it. Bearing all these facts in mind, anyone 

 will be quite able to see why we continue to enforce the 

 necessity for extreme care and neatness of setting, at the 

 same time leaving as little scent as possible, to obviate which 

 latter either of the drags mentioned in a former article may 

 be employed with advantage. 



That the fox has great determination of purpose is evident, 

 and, in order to attain anything upon which it has set its 

 desire, it will not be debarred through having to run some 

 danger ; and an instance which came to our notice shows 

 this to be so to a remarkable extent. On one occasion we 

 set three gins to a bait of a dead fowl, which we tied 

 securely to the lower banches of a small spruce bush. For 

 two or three days no result was achieved, but one morning, 

 approaching the spot, we heard " rattling/' and knew we 

 had a catch. To reach the place we had to get over a hedge 

 bank, and, doing so, saw a fox pick up the fowl which had 

 been torn from its position, and trot off through the covert. 

 Two of the gins were drawn, and one bore unmistakable 

 signs of having held a pad, while the ground comprised 

 within the radius of the gin was completely torn up. From 

 this we gathered that Reynard had redoubled his exertions 

 on hearing our approach, and just got free in time to catch 

 up the fowl, getting away with it and the marks of rough 

 treatment on one of his pads. It seems extraordinary that 

 the fox should wait to carry off its hardly gotten bait under 

 such alarming circumstances. 



In the event of foxes making a practice of visiting fields 



B B 



