8o NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HARE 



set his snares in the run of the hare near the bolt hole. 

 The ' smout ' or ' spout ' (both terms are employed) 

 of a hare usually proceeds in a slanting direction, 

 whereas that of a rabbit is relatively straight. Some- 

 times a hare is forced to make her exit through a hole 

 in the thorn hedge, in which case a few flakes of 

 down will often be found adhering to the thorns, a 

 trifle to the public, but to the eye of the poacher full 

 of significance. Before setting the snares, the poacher 

 blocks up the smout holes, and fixes fifty or sixty 

 snares in the various ' trods ' or hare paths, which, of 

 course, radiate all round the field. The poacher 

 watches his snares according to his opportunity. His 

 object is to secure as many hares as possible in the 

 shortest possible time. Farm labourers, of course, 

 have special facilities for visiting their snares. A 

 small piece of white paper is often attached to the 

 peg which holds the snare, to enable the operator to 

 distinguish it in the dark. As soon as a hare enters 

 a snare, she begins to scream and strikes the long 

 end of the wire with one of her feet, winding it round 

 the limb in her frantic effort to escape, which only 

 hastens her doom, for it tightens the fatal noose. 

 The poacher is generally near at hand, for he lives in 

 dread of discovery, and must work as quietly as 

 possible. Most of his business is done in the small 



