8 The Confessions of a 'Poacher. 



were less rigorously enforced than now. Our 

 home was roughly adorned in fur and feather, 

 and a number of gaunt lurchers always 

 constituted part of the family. An almost 

 passionate love of nature, summers of birds' 

 nesting, and a life spent almost wholly out of 

 doors constituted an admirable training for an 

 embryo poacher. If it is true that poets are 

 born, not made, it is equally so of poachers. 

 The successful "moucher" must be an inborn 

 naturalist must have much in common with 

 the creatures of the fields and woods around 

 him. 



There is a miniature bird and animal fauna 

 which constitutes as important game to the 

 young poacher as any he is likely to come 

 across in after life. There are mice, shrews, 

 voles, for all of which he sets some primitive 

 snare and captures. The silky-coated moles 

 in their runs offer more serious work, and 

 being most successfully practised at night, 

 offers an additional charm. Then there are 

 the red-furred squirrels which hide among the 

 delicate leaves of the beeches and run up their 



