Book VII. 



NOXIOUS ANIMALS. 



nil 



spot he endeavoured to make as inviting and comfortable to 

 the animals as possible ; for which purpose he placed faggots, 

 loose wood, and even straw, with an occasional wheat shejrf, 

 on and about the trap. His plan was, to render the trouib (/} 

 a complete thoroughfare ; for which purpose the trap or falling 

 bottom te) was, for several days, secured by a pin. and the end 



7636. The beauty of Paul of Starslon's trap is, that, when once 

 set, and the catch (r) regulated to its proper pitch, it requires 

 no further trouble. One is sufficient for the whole premises. 

 The great object is, to give them time enough to get acquainted 

 with it ; for which purpose every thing should be done to attract 

 them to the spot, and to make them feel themselves at home. 

 A little pale malt, slightly tinctured with oil of caraway, will 

 prove to be the most inviting dish you can set before them ; and 

 it will be well to bear in mind, that no part of the trap, not even 

 tlie straw or the wo- d by which it is surrounded, ought to be 

 touched by the naked hand without first rubbing the skin with 

 a portion of the oil of caraway. Do not scatter the malt upcni 

 the bridge {g), but spread it carelessly, as it were, about the 

 feeding end of the trough (m). It will thus be in sight from 

 the other end () ; and, to get it, the rats must pass the 

 bridge {g) ; for it will be seen ntjif;. 964. B, that the entrance to 

 the trap is now (by means of the wood piled up) at the end of the 

 trough (n), although at first it had an entrance at each end, 

 apd was, as I have stated, a complete thoroughfare. Indeed, 

 some have them on this plan still ; having no particular feed- 

 ing place, and trusting entirely to time and chance for what 

 they may catch ; having first taken pains to make the trap a 

 run, and the place itself a harbour for rats. I do not know- 

 that it is requisite for me to add many more words. The 

 drawings sufficiently explain the principle ; and as to dimen- 

 sions, those ran be determined by the projector, and must, in 

 some degree, depend on the size and convenience of the build- 

 ing to wliich the rattery is attached. The trap itself should 

 not be above three or four inches wide, and twelve or fifteen 

 inches long; in order to allow i>lenty of room for the fall of a 

 large rat. " The forlorn hope" into which he dropjied from 



(n) u?,ed as a feeding place. After the rats had got accustomed 

 to the s)>ot, and passetl the bridge with confidence, he took out 

 the pin which secured it, and even- rat that attempted to i>asf 

 thereafter yias taken prisoner. I should here observe, that 

 great care is ne<:essary in the construction of this part of the 

 trap. It is not enough that the floor give way under the 

 rat, and be merely brought back into^ its place 

 again by the balance weight at the end of 

 the bridge (A). One rat might he accidentally 

 so caught, but you would not catch a second. 

 They are, as is well known, remarkably cunning 

 and susiiicious in their dispositions ; and are 

 in the habit of trying the bridge with their fore- 

 feet, in order to ascertain its soundness, previously 

 to advenvuring the weight of their bodies thereon. 

 It is ohvious, therefore, that unless the bridge is 

 sufficiently fastened to enable the rat to make this 

 trial, the trap will be no trap to them ; and yet the 

 catch or fastening should not be so stiff but that it 

 will suffer the bridge to give way under their weight 

 when once upon it. I cannot show this catch in 

 my sketches; they are so small, but (enlarging the 

 scale) it is, when the bridge is viewed sideways, 

 something like the annexed sketch (./?-. 965.). g- 

 is the bridge or fall of wood tipped with thin sheet 

 iron at the end (i), which works into the catch (r). 

 This catch should be sufficiently rank to bear the 

 trial already spoken of; and yet not so rank but that 

 it suffer the bridge to fall when wanted (as sho-ivn by 

 the dotted lines ) -It 's brought back by tlie 

 weight (A), and moves on pivots at i. 

 " doubting castle," for, you will observe, my friend had the 

 Pilgrim's Progress in his eye when he was thus labouring to 

 entrap sinners, " the forlorn hope," I say, should be suffi- 

 ciently deep to prevent the rat from making any attempt to 

 reach the bottom of the trap ig) ; for which purjiose it should 

 be of a conical form, and perfectly smooth mside. Once in 

 " the forlorn hope," therefore, he has no means of egress but by 

 the pipe or drain (/), the length of which is immaterial, and 

 which conducts to a tub or cistern of water called, not inaptly, 

 " the slough of despond." Against the side of this tub is fixed 

 a flap (), upon which, as the only chance of escape, the rat 

 jumps from the mouth of the pipe (/). It gives way under 

 him, as shown by the dotted line, and he soon ends his career 

 in " the slough of despond." It will be observed, that the 

 operation of this trap is so silent, and yet so eftectual, that 

 hundreds may be caught in quick succession without any alarm 

 being given to the remainder ; for it appears that they continue 

 but a very short time in " the forlorn hope," leaving it almost 

 immediately for " the slough of despond ;' their immersion in 

 which (it being at such a distance from the trap) is unattended 

 with any noise: whereas, had the water been immediately 

 under the fall {g), each rat would have occasioned moi-e or less 

 of disturb mce, and thus have intimidated many. Besides, the 

 mere examination of tlie cistern, and taking out the captured, 

 would have been a constant source of annoyance ; whereas, in 

 its present situation, it may be examined every day without in 

 the le-st interfering with "the trap. My friend had a mouse- 

 trap on the same principle, only on a smaller scale, and of lighter 

 materials, which answered extremely well. The mice dropped 

 throush the trap into a little cistern of water beneath. (Gard. 

 Mag, vol. vi. p. 585.) 



966 



7637. The lovg-tailcd field mouse {Mtis sylvaticus L.,fig. 966. a), and the short-tailed field mouse (A), 

 are both rather larger than the common mouse. Of late years they 

 have appeared in vast numbers in some parts of England, and caused 

 incalculable damage to the agriculturist. In 1814, and the following 

 year, the extensive plantations in Dean and New forests were nearly 

 destroyed, over an extent of five hundred acres : the devastation was 

 caused by these vermin attacking the five-year-old oak and chestnut 

 plants, which they barked round at the bottom, and consequently 

 destroyed. Ash, larch, fir, and holly plants were served in the same 

 way ; and, in many instances, the roots were gnawed through two or 

 three inches below the surface. Lord Glenbervie observes, that this 

 alarming havoc first became apparent in 1811, and increased to such a 

 degree in the three following years, that the greatest alarm was felt by 

 government for the safety of the growing timber on these extensive 

 forests. Seven or eight different sorts of traps were set, a great variety 

 of poisons tried, cats were brought in numbers and turned loose in those 

 enclosures most infected, and crows, magpies, and owls were impressed 

 into the service ; but the number of these animals was so prodigious 

 that no sensible diminution was perceived. At length a vast number of 

 pits were dug ; and as this method produced the most beneficial results, 



we shall describe it. The pits were made from eighteen to twenty inches deep at the bottom, about two 

 feet in length, and one foot and a half in width, and, at the top, only eighteen inches long and nine wide, 

 or, indeed, as small as the earth could be got out of a hole of that depth ; for the wider they are below, 

 and the narrower above, the better they answer their purpose. They were made twenty yards asunder, or 

 about twelve on an acre ; or, where the mice were less numerous, thirty yards apart. By this method 

 thirty thousand mice were caught in a short time, but a far greater number had been taken out of the 

 holes, either alive or dead, by stoats, weasels, crows, and especially hawks. It was for a long time 

 supposed that this damage had been caused by rabbits ; and it is very probable that similar injuries are 

 frequently attributed erroneously to these animals. Some years ago an extraordinary quantity of mice 

 created similar devastation in Lord Bagot's extensive woods in Staffordshire, and in those of Lord Downes 

 in Yorkshire {Zool. Journal, No. 4. p. 433.). 



7638. The field tnouse, in the forest of Dean, had become so destructive in 1813, that after trying traps, 

 baits with poison, dogs, cats, &c. with little success, at last the plan of catching them by holes was hit 

 upon. These holes were made from eighteen inches to two feet long, sixteen or eighteen inches deep, 

 about the width of a spade at the top, fourteen or fifteen inches wide at the bottom, and three or four 

 inches longer at the bottom than at the top. The object was to get the bottom of the hole three or fou 

 inches wider every way than the top, and the sides firm; otherwise the mice would run up the sides and 

 get out again. The holes were made at twenty yards apart each way, over a surface of about 3200 acres : 

 oO,0(X) mice were very soon caught, and the ground was freed from them for two or three years. As many 

 as fifteen have been found in a hole in one night ; when not taken out soon, they fell on and ate each 

 other. These mice, we are informed, used not only to. eat the acorns when newly planted, but to eat 

 through the stems of trees seven and eight feet high, and one inch and a half in diameter ; the part eaten 

 through was the collar, or scat of life. {Billingtoti's Fads on Oaks and Trees, SfC. p. 43.) 



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