tq6 The Amateur Poacher 



is nothing so annoying as to have to unravel strings 

 with chilled fingers in a ditch. Some have to be 

 mended, having been torn ; some are cast aside alto- 

 gether because weak and rotten. The twine having 

 been frequently saturated with water has decayed. 

 All the nets are of a light yellow colour from the clay 

 and sand that has worked into the string. 



These nets almost filled a sack, into which he also 

 cast a pair of * owl -catchers,' gloves of stout white 

 leather, thick enough to turn a thorn while handling 

 bushes, or to withstand the claws of an owl furiously 

 resisting capture. His ferrets cost him muc^ thought 

 which to take and which to leave behind. He had 

 also to be particular how he fed them — they must be 

 eager for prey, and yet they must not be starved, else 

 they would gorge on the blood of the first rabbit, and 

 become useless for hunting. 



Two had to be muzzled — an operation of some 

 difficulty that generally results in a scratched hand. 

 A small piece of small but strong twine is passed 

 through the jaws behind the tusk-like teeth, and 

 tightly tied round, so tightly as almost to cut into 

 the skin. This is the old way of muzzling a ferret, 

 handed down from generations : Little John scorns 

 the muzzles that can be bought at shops, and still 

 more despises the tiny bells to hang round the neck. 



