238 THE RABBIT. 



shielded from view. If the runway is closely 

 examined, it will be found that it consists more 

 or less of a series of patches, the rabbits taking off 

 and landing at the same points while progressing 

 along it that is, treading in each other's foot- 

 steps, as already described. Therefore place the 

 noose so that the rabbit will encounter it in 

 mid-leap. 



Do not use old wires. When a wire has been 

 several times subjected to strain in all weathers 

 it becomes brittle, and it is then only a matter 

 of time before a rabbit gets away, to suffer tor- 

 ments from the tightly drawn noose about its neck. 

 There is no economy in employing old snares, and 

 their use is calculated to be abominably cruel, while 

 it takes but a few minutes to renew the wires at 

 regular intervals. Brass eyelets are made for the 

 purpose, and should always be used ; otherwise the 

 wire lasts a very short time, and the noose can 

 never be made to run so freely as is desirable. 



The only hints I can give as regards choosing 

 the position for the snare is to select the most 

 likely-looking runway, and hide the snare in the 

 best way possible. It will sometimes be found 

 that rabbits are in the habit of running under a 

 gate, having trodden the grass away below the 

 bottom bar, and no better point could be chosen 

 for secreting the noose. Never set a snare at the 

 mouth of a hole or at a cranny in the wall ; place 

 it on one of the runways leading to and from the 

 burrow along the edge of the wood, or a few feet 

 from the cranny in the wall. 



If the ground be of a consistency which does not 

 permit it to hold the peg very firmly, it is not a 

 bad plan to tie a branch across its centre to the top 

 of the peg, so that, should the peg be drawn, the 



