38 THE LIFE OF A FOX 



on the ground from being entirely destroyed by 

 ourselves, or by vermin, such as stoats and weasels. 



Rabbits are too often the perquisites of the 

 gamekeeper, and the iron traps which he sets with 

 the pretence of catching them are the destruction 

 of hundreds of us. This might be prevented if the 

 master would only insist on these traps not being 

 employed at all, and compel the use of the wire 

 snake, and of ferrets to get the rabbits out of their 

 burrows. 



Having by this time learnt from my mother all 

 that she could teach me, I followed her example in 

 many things. Amongst them I remarked, that on 

 a wet and windy night she almost always chose, for 

 various reasons, to lie in a gorse - covert. It is 

 generally dry and without droppings from trees ; it 

 is also more quiet and freer from the roaring of the 

 wind than when near to them. Besides this, we 

 are not so liable to be disturbed by the shooters, 

 and though we should be so, are out of sight. We 

 are also there out of sight of some of our trouble- 

 some feathered neighbours, the crows, magpies, and 

 jays, who would betray us when moving abroad 

 during the daytime. They are always moving with 

 the first appearance of daylight, and we are glad to 

 get out of their sight as soon as we can and go into 



