TRAPS AND TRAPPING. 



407 



rated which holds down the two levers, and the doors at once 

 fall by their own gravity. The construction of this box is 

 the same in principle as the common box-trap, the only dif- 

 ference being that the plate in the ordinary plan is sup- 

 ported at one end on a strip of wood, and there is only one 

 f-shaped piece. But in the mode which I have here indi- 

 cated the plate is much more ticklish, and the foot of a 

 weasel or rat placed on any part of it will be sure to disengage 

 the cord and to cause the doors to fall. To set it, proceed as 

 follows: Have two small wedges which fit loosely into the 

 openings beneath the arms of the plate at a, insert them, and 

 so prop it up, depress the two levers, and drop the t^'s into 

 their places, as shown in fig. 98; then simply lay the baits 

 without any fastening, one on each side, and about two inches 

 from the plate, as at c c, fig. 99, which is a ground-plan of 



GROUND PLAN OF BOX TRAP. 



the box ; and lastly set the t^'s ticklishly, withdrawing the 

 two props one at a time, and leaving only just sufficient of 

 the two surfaces in contact to keep down the levers and sup- 

 port the plate. The hooks at the end of the plates should 

 be pointed so that even if the plate is only depressed at one 

 edge, they will slip from the t" 1 , and so disengage themselves 

 from it. The baits should be small, and are placed one on 

 each side the plate, so that a weasel or polecat will devour 

 one, and then be tempted fearlessly to cross the plate to the 

 other, in doing which it is caught by the doors falling. The 

 great advantage of this trap is that it does not kill or even 

 injure in the slightest degree the animals which it captures, 

 so that if a rabbit or hare enters it, no harm is done, for the 

 door is at once raised, and it escapes. These box-traps are 

 set either in the natural runs frequented by the stoat or 



