The Confessions of a 'Poacher. 133 



a hare has been taken, especially if the run in 

 which the snare was set was damp. There 

 will be the hole where the peg has been, and 

 the ground will be beaten flat by the struggles 

 of the animal in endeavouring to free itself. 



Field-netting for rabbits may be prevented 

 in the same way as for partridges by thorning 

 the ground where the game feeds. It is quite 

 a mistake to plant thorns, or even to stake out 

 large branches. The only ones that at all 

 trouble the poacher are small thorns which are 

 left absolutely free on the ground. These get 

 into the net, roll it up hopelessly in a 

 short time, and if this once occurs everything 

 escapes. Large thorns are easily seen and 

 easily removed, but the abominable ones are 

 the small ones left loose on the surface of the 

 ground. 



The most certain and wholesale method of 

 rabbit poaching I ever practised was also the 

 most daring. The engine employed was the 

 " well-trap." This is a square, deep box, built 

 into the ground, and immediately opposite to 

 a smoot-hole in the fence through which the 



