78 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HARE 



set in a hedge, the wire noose is smaller than if it was 

 set in the open field ; the reason is that the feet of the 

 animal push the snare up if it is creeping through a 

 hole. Poachers commonly measure the height of a 

 snare with the hand, elevating it to the level of the 

 thumb raised at right angles to the palm. The snare 

 is made of different qualities of wire ; very thin wire 

 is apt to snap in frosty weather. A single strand of 

 wire would be useless. From six to eight strands of 

 wire are generally considered to suffice. The wire is 

 plaited in strands by various methods. One of the 

 handiest for a poacher is to attach a long piece of wire 

 to the ' missis's ' kettle handle, and twirl the kettle 

 round and round, when, of course, it binds the wire 

 together. The wires take up very little room in the 

 operator's pocket. Nor is it difficult to peg the snare 

 firmly down. The poacher has to study the most 

 rapid methods of action, for he may at any time have 

 to pick up a snared hare and run for it. He cannot 

 stop to untie difficult knots, and consequently he fixes 

 it with the ' timber-hitch,' or some similar device. 



Any schoolboy could set a snare. But to manipu- 

 late snares successfully, the poacher must serve his 

 apprenticeship in the green fields, or he would never 

 know where to choose the spot. The trained eye 

 searches for what is termed the trod ' of the hare, 



