408 AN ENGLISH GAMEKEEPER. 



traps should be well scrubbed every few weeks, 

 and then scraped all over, after^vards being 

 hung up in the wind to sweeten. Always keep 

 a dozen clean traps by you, as it is of very 

 .httle use to attempt to trap with dirty traps. 

 See that your traps spring lightly and quickly, 

 like clockwork. Wash your hands clean from 

 all scent of blood, gunpowder, rabbits' 

 paunches, dogs, or ferrets ; clean hands make 

 good trappers. Rub a little clean earth on 

 your hands before you begin to set your traps ; 

 this takes off the scent of perspiration. If the 

 traps have been oiled they should be hung up 

 night and day in order to take off the scent of 

 the oil. All these precautions may appear 

 trivial, but they are most important if you 

 wish to become a successful trapper. 



In snaring the same precautions as to keep- 

 ing clean hands must be observed, only more 

 so, because, in trapping, the earth to some 

 extent takes off the smell, but there is nothing 

 of that kind in snaring. 



When snaring rabbits you should take up a 

 furrow trom one end of the field to the other, 



