32 The Amateur Poacher 



seemed as if the rabbits declined to use the hole at 

 all ; presently, however, the loop was pushed back, 

 showing that one must have got his nose between it 

 and the bank and so made a safe passage sideways. 

 A run that crossed the field was then selected, and the 

 wire erected at about the middle of it, equidistant from 

 either hedge. Near the entrance of the buries the 

 rabbits moved slowly, sniffing their way along and 

 pausing every yard or so. But they often increased 

 their speed farther away, and sometimes raced from 

 one mound to the other. When going at that rate it 

 appeared natural to conclude that they would be less 

 careful to pick and choose their road. 



The theory proved so far correct that next day 

 the upright was down, but the wire had snapped and 

 the rabbit was gone. The character of the fracture 

 clearly indicated how it had happened : the rabbit, so 

 soon as he found his head in the noose, had rolled and 

 tumbled till the wire, already twisted tight, parted. 

 Too much twisting, therefore, weakened instead of 

 strengthening. Next a single wire, somewhat thicker, 

 was used, and set up nearly in the same place; but it 

 broke again. 



Finally, two strands of medium size, placed side 

 by side, but only twisted once that is, just enough 

 to keep them together were employed. The lesser 



