THOUGHTS ON RAT-HUNTING 95 



pounds a day. Many keepers destroy two or three 

 thousand rats in a year. 



Of Cf Of 



As a hunter of rats the gamekeeper has no equal, 

 though he could do little without the help of his 



trusty ferrets and ratting terriers. He and 

 Thoughts hj s assistants are on terms of thorough 

 hunting understanding. We know an old keeper 



whose ferrets seem to have a strong affec- 

 tion for him ; they are quiet to handle, and are 

 treated as pets, but they are the best ratting ferrets 

 in the world. The keeper does not care to use good 

 rabbiting ferrets for ratting : they may be lost and 

 bitten to death a rat bite is always dangerous. 

 Ratting ferrets need peculiar qualities, and are not 

 necessarily the most ferocious of their kind. 



The keeper's ferrets seldom nip him, for he knows 

 how to handle them. A ferret nips, and is not to 

 be blamed for it, when a hand suddenly makes a 

 grab at him without warning. The keeper's way 

 to attract a ferret's attention is by speaking before 

 touching. " Come on, Betty," or " Come on, Jack," 

 he says in soothing tones, as he boldly puts forward 

 his hand. His passwords of friendship are useful 

 for coaxing a ferret from a hole or from impenetrable 

 bushes. The ferrets tell him if a rat is near by the 

 action of their tails as they enter a burrow, working 

 them after the manner of a cat about to spring on a 

 mouse. 



