72 NATURAL HISTORY OF 7 HE HARE 



As a general rule, a scout precedes his mates if the 

 poachers happen to be returning home, and this man 

 never carries anything that could endanger his liberty. 

 Should he happen to confront a keeper or a police- 

 man, the scout strikes a match, whistles, or gives 

 some other pre-arranged signal to his mates, who re- 

 tire and keep out of harm's way. The town poachers 

 endeavour to enter the streets as soon as the night 

 policeman has left his beat. 



It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that 

 organised net poaching is mainly responsible for the 

 destruction of hares. The mischief caused by poachers 

 who work alone is quite as serious, and probably 

 more so. For example, a single poacher can, in a 

 very few minutes, fix up half a dozen pocket nets 

 outside the conduits which run through a dyke. 

 He has only to send his dog round the field, or to 

 walk round the enclosure himself, to drive the hares 

 through the conduits. The alarmed animals hasten 

 to escape through their usual means of exit from the 

 field, and of course drop into the purse nets that are 

 suspended outside the ' condies.' A neophyte would 

 fumble too long at setting the nets to be successful in 

 the coup ; but not so an old hand. The Midlothian 

 poacher told me that he could fix up his condie nets, 

 drive a field, bag his hares and walk off with his spoil 



