42 WILD SPOUTS OF THE HIGHLANDS. [CHAP. iv. 



almost instantaneously, it is perhaps as merciful a way of put- 

 ting: an end to noxious and troublesome animals as can be devised, 



o 



and no method can be more certain. 1 have always been of 

 opinion that nine keepers out of ten who carry guns are but of 

 little use in destroying vermin. The grand desideratum in pre- 

 serving game is, that the animals should be left in perfect quiet. 

 A man walking about with a gun in his hand, shooting at mag- 

 pias and crows, does nearly as much mischief to the preserves 

 as if he shot at the game itself. 



A quiet intelligent trapper does more good in killing vermin 

 than a dozen men with guns. The former sees a pair of crows, 

 or a stoat ; if he is well skilled in his profession, the creatures are 

 dead by the next day, having been caught without noise and 

 without disturbing a single head of those animals which are re- 

 quired to be kept in peace and quiet. The shooting keeper in 

 making his way through woods and coverts to get shots at ver- 

 min, often fails in killing it, but is sure to disturb and molest 

 the game, driving it here and there, and exposing it to the view 

 and attacks of hawks and poachers. I have always a far better 

 opinion of the usefulness of a keeper when I see him with a 

 number of traps on his shoulder, than when he carries his gun 

 always with him. It is no bad amusement occasionally to ac- 

 company an intelligent and experienced trapper on his rounds, 

 and see his plans to deceive and entice the fox and the otter, 

 the hawk or the raven. 



In catching all these animals, the spot to be selected for trap- 

 ping should not be near their abodes or nests, but in that part 

 of the outskirts of the covers where they wander during the 

 night time in pursuit of prey. Almost every kind of vermin 

 hunts in the open country and fields, wherever they may lie con- 

 cealed during the day : for knowing that rabbits, hares, and the 

 other animals which form their principal food, resort to the pas- 

 tures, the corn-fields, or the waterside to feed during the night ; 

 to these same places do their hungry enemies follow them. Hawks 

 and crows too, who feed in the day-time, are perfectly aware that 

 they have a better chance of seeing and catching their prey in the 

 open country than in the woods and covers. Besides which, 

 a hungry fox or hawk hunting for game, is less on his guard 

 than when prowling quietly and cautiously through the woods. 



