The Confessions of a 'Poacher. 67 



In March, when hares are pairing, four or 

 five may frequently be found together in one 

 field. Although wild, they seem to lose much 

 of their natural timidity, and during this month 

 I usually reaped a rich harvest. I was always 

 careful to set my wires and snares on the side 

 opposite to that from which the game would 

 come, for this reason that hares approach 

 any place through which they are about 

 to pass in a zig-zag manner. They come on, 

 playing and frisking, stopping now and then to 

 nibble the herbage. Then they canter, making 

 wide leaps at right angles to their path, and sit 

 listening upon their haunches. A freshly im- 

 pressed footmark, the scent of dog or man, 

 almost invariably turns them back. Of course 

 these traces are certain to be left if the snare 

 be set on the near side of the gate or fence, 

 and then a hare will refuse to take it, even 

 when hard pressed. Now here is a wrinkle to 

 any keeper who cares to accept it. Where 

 poaching is prevalent and hares abundant, 

 every hare on the estate should be netted, for it 

 is a fact well known to every poacher versed 



