CAT TRAP. 



153 



talks about victims of this kind, or owns to having 

 seen a cat of any colour, size, or shape on his beat. 



In the South of England, where the conditions 

 are different, mischievous cats are caught by a trap 

 popularly known amongst some keepers as " Bill 

 Adams," from 

 its terribly de- 

 structive char- 

 acter. It is 

 baited with a 

 herring and 

 often placed on 

 a plank thrown 

 across a stream, 

 as shown in our 

 illustration. Just 

 as pussy steps 

 softly beneath a 

 kind of trium- 

 phal arch, its 

 weight releases 

 a bit of cunning 

 machinery, and a 

 couple of doors 

 swiftly close, 

 one before and 

 one behind, 

 and all chance of escape is instantly cut oft'. 



I recollect once seeing an old Yorkshire game- 

 keeper catch a Fox in a very ingenious and, I 

 should think, ancient form of trap, which he called 

 a "kist," probably a corruption of chest. He had 

 traced the animal into a hole amongst some rocks, 

 just after a fall of snow, and barred it in by care- 

 fully walling up every means of egress. This done, 

 he levelled and roughly flagged a path seven or 



CAT TRAP 



