398 TRAPPING THE TRUE AND LEGITIMATE 



a quantity of the top-dressing is caught between the jaws of 

 the trap, the keeper is not fit to set for vermin, and must 

 be made thoroughly master of this first requisite before he 

 attempts to do so. 



I shall now mention the different kinds of four-footed and 

 then winged vermin, giving minute instructions how each may 

 be most readily trapped. Foxes are the most cunning, and 

 consequently most difficult to be taken. The best time to set 

 for them is from the beginning of January when the males 

 follow the females till March. Their haunts may then often 

 be discovered by their wild peculiar bark. Any clear open 

 space near them, with a hollow in the middle, is the place to 

 plant traps. The hollow is necessary, as the fox always likes to 

 be out of sight when he is eating. The bait is a piece of hare, 

 rabbit, or the entrails of any animal, covered over slightly with 

 earth; and half-a-dozen traps are set round with the utmost 

 care. Fewer will not do, as the fox might escape between. The 

 bait is covered over in order to make Reynard suppose that 

 another fox or dog may have buried it there. Some drag it 

 along the ground for a considerable distance on either side, after 

 first rubbing it on the soles of their shoes, and letting fall 

 little pieces of cheese at intervals : this can do no harm, but I 

 think as little good. 



The circle of twigs is also a very good way of trapping 

 foxes all the year. It should be made larger than for martens 

 or cats, in order to contain more bait this should be added to 

 without being removed when it taints, as the greater the scent 

 the better the chance. Traps set for foxes should never be made 

 fast, or they are apt to gnaw the leg off : the best plan is to tie 

 two or three together ; for if the fox can drag them, however 

 great the difficulty, he will not attempt the desperate remedy of 

 amputating Ms leg. When they have litters, the old ones may 

 be taken ; but it requires great judgment to select the spot they 

 would be most likely to walk over in going to and from their 

 young : a first-rate trapper, however, will generally secure one 

 or both. It is the more difficult, as the traps must be set at 



