Book VII. NOXIOUS ANIMALS. 1109 



or upwards, till he gets near some large tree ; then leave the paunch and ascend into the tree with a gun ; 

 and as the night comes on, he may see the fox come after the scent of the trail, when he may shoot him. 

 The trail should be drawn to the windward of the tree, if he can conveniently contrive so to do. Or, set 

 a steel-trap in the plain part of a large field, distant from paths and hedges ; then open the trap, place it 

 on the ground, cut out the exact shape thereof in a turf, and take out just so much earth to make room 

 for it to stand, and then cover it again very neatly with the turf you cut out. As the joint of the turf 

 will not close exactly, procure some mould of a mole-hill newly thrown up, and stick some grass on it, 

 as if it grew there. Scatter some mould of the mole-hill very thin three different ways, at the distance of 

 ten or twelve yards from the trap; let this mould be thrown on spots fifteen or sixteen inches square; 

 and where the trap is placed, lay three or four small pieces of cheese ; and then, with a sheep's paunch, 

 draw a trail a mile or two long to each of these three places, and from thence to the trap, that the fox 

 may approach one of the places first ; for then he will advance to the trap more boldly ; and thus you will 

 be almost always sure of catching him. You must take care that your trap be left loose, that he may draw 

 it to some hedge or covert, or he will otherwise bite off his leg, and so make his escape. Or near the spot 

 where the fox uses much to resort, fix a stick or pole, much in the same manner as for a woodcock. To 

 explain this more exactly : tie a string to some pole set fast in the ground, and to this string fasten a small 

 short stick, made thin on the upper side, with a notch at the lower end of it ; then set another stick fast in 

 the ground, with a nick under it ; bend down the pole, and let the nicks or notches join in the slightest 

 degree : then open the noose or string, and place it in the path or walk of the fox. By strewing flesh-meat, 

 pieces of cheese, &c., as you pass along, you may entice the fox to take the same road. 



7626. To shoot a fox, anoint the soles of the shoes with swine's fat, a little broiled ; then go towards the 

 wood, and, in returning, drop here and there a bit of swine's liver, roasted and dipped in honey, drawing 

 after you a dead cat ; and by these means he will be allured to follow you. 



7627. The fox is sometimes taken with a hook, made of large wire, and turning on a swivel like the collar 

 of a greyhound ; it is usually hung so high from the ground, that he is compelled to leap to catch at it j 

 and baited with fresh liver, cheese, &c., and if a trail be run with a sheep's paunch, as before directed, he 

 will be drawn to the bait with the greatest ease. 



7628. The pole-cat {FhWs Putbrius L.) may be caught and destroyed by a dead-fall, constructed in the 

 following manner: Take a square piece of wood, weighing forty or fifty pounds: bore a hole in the 

 middle of the upper side, and set a crooked hook fast in it ; then set four forked stakes fast in the ground, 

 and lay two sticks across, on which sticks lay a long staff, to hold the dead-fall up to the crook ; and under 

 this crook put a short stick, and fasten a line to it : this line must reach down to the bridge below ; and 

 this bridge you must make about five or six inches broad. On both sides of this dead-fall place boards or 

 pales, or edge it with close rods, and make it ten or twelve inches high. Let the entrance be no wider 

 than the breadth of the dead-fall. A pigeon house, surrounded with a wet ditch, will tend to preserve 

 the pigeons ; for beasts of prey naturally avoid water. 



7629. The weasel, or Foumart (Ffelis vulgJiris L.), though in some respects beneficial, in as much as when 

 domesticated it destroys rats, mice, moles, and other noxious vermin, is nevertheless, in a wild state, a 

 formidable foe to poultry and rabbits. Weasels may be destroyed by putting in their haunts small pieces 

 of paste, consisting of pulverised sal ammoniac, mixed up with the white of an egg, wheaten flour, and 

 honey. The strewing of rue round the place where hens nestle, is also said to drive away these depre- 

 dators ; as also will the smell of a burnt cat ; as all animals are terrified at the burning of one of their own, 

 or of a similar species. 



7630. The badger ( t/'rsus Mfeles L.) destroys great numbers of young pigs, lambs, and poultry, every 

 year. Some use a steel-trap, or a spring, such as foxes are taken in, to catch them. Others sink a pit-fall, 

 five feet in depth and four in length, forming it narrow at top and bottom, and wider in the middle ; they 

 then cover it with small sticks and leaves, so that the badger may fall in when he comes on it. Foxes 

 are sometimes taken in this manner. Others, again, pursue a badger to his hole, and dig him out ; this is 

 done by moonlight. 



7631. The mole (Talpa europasV) is injurious by the subterraneous roads and hills of earth which it 

 forms in grass lands. With regard to the removal of mole-hills various practices are in use ; but the most 

 effectual is that derived from the experience of a successful mole-catcher, and communicated to the public 

 by Dr. Darwin, in his Phytologia. This man commenced his operations before sun-rising, when he care- 

 fully watched their situation ; and frequently observing the motion of the earth above their walks, he 

 struck a spade into the ground behind them, cut off their retreat, and then dug them up. As moles 

 usually place their nests at a greater depth in the ground than their common habitation lies, and thus 

 form an elevation or mole-hill, the next step is to destroy these nests by the spade ; after which the fre- 

 quented paths are to be distinguished from the bye-roads, for the purpose of setting subterraneous traps. 

 This object may be effected by marking every new mole-hill with a slight pressure of the foot, and ob- 

 serving the next day whether a mole has passed over it, and destroyed such mark ; and this operation 

 should be repeated two or three mornings successively, but without making the pressure so deep as to 

 alarm the animal, and occasion another passage to be opened. Now, the traps are to be set in frequented 

 paths, and should be made of a hollow wooden semi-cylinder {fig. 292.), each end of which should be fur- 

 nished with grooved rings, containing two nooses of horse-hair, that are loosely fastened in the centre by 

 means of a peg, and are stretched above the surface of the ground by a bent stick or strong hoop. As 

 soon as the mole passes half way through one of these nooses, and removes the central peg in its course, 

 the hoop, or bent stick, rises in consequence of its elasticity, and of course strangles the mole. The sim- 

 plicity of this mode of destroying mole-hills and moles recommends itself to general adoption, as those 

 whose grounds are thus infested may easily extirpate them, by teaching this practice to their labourers. 



7632. The domestic or Norway rat (M6s Rattus L., fig. 963.) is now generally diffused throughout this 



953 country, where it has almost extirpated the indigenous black rat. It 



is the most noxious quadruped we have, as it is destructive both to 

 the live and dead stock of the farmer. The following methods for de- 

 stroying it are preferable to all others, and are given in JVillick's 

 Domestic Economy, vol. iii. : Fry a piece of sponge with salt butter in 

 a pan; then compress it between two plates, and cut it into small 

 pieces, and scatter them about the holes frequented by rats and mice. 

 This preparation is devoured with avidity; it excites thirst in the 

 animals, which should be gratified by exposing shallow vessels con- 

 taining water. On drinking this fluid, after having swallowed the 

 burnt sponge, it distends their stomach, and proves a fatal repast. 

 Or, a capacious cask of moderate height must be procured, and put 

 in the vicinity of places infested with rats. During the first week this vessel is only employed to allure 

 the rats to visit the solid top of the cask, by means of boards or planks arranged in a sloping direction to 

 the floor, which are every day strewed with oatmeal, or any other food equally grateful to their palate ; 

 and the principal part of which is exposed on the surface. After having thus been lulled into security, and 

 accustomed to find a regular supply for their meals, a skin of parchment is substituted for the wooden top 

 of the cask, and the former is cut for several inches, with transverse incisions through the centre, so as to 

 yield on the smallest pressure. At the same time, a few gallons of water, to the depth of five or six inches, 

 are poured into the empty cask. In the middle of this element a brick or stone is placed, so as to project 

 one or two inches above the fluid ; and that one rat may find on the former a place of refuge. These pre- 

 paratory measures being taken, the boards as well as the top of the cask should now be furnished with 

 proper bait, in order to induce them to repeat their visits. No sooner does one of these marauders plunge 



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