258 A GAMEKEEPER'S NOTE-BOOK 



clothes a useful disguise came sauntering silently 

 down a road bounded by unkempt hawthorn hedges. 

 His trained ear caught the sound of a dog careering 

 past him on the field-side of the road : then he saw 

 the dog's master, who, on seeing him, set up a 

 sudden and energetic whistling. Of this the dog 

 took no notice ; with his nose well down, he rushed 

 on to a rabbit-burrow and began digging furiously. 

 " These hedges are full of rats," remarked the dog's 

 master. " My dog killed five just now." Asked 

 what had happened to their bodies, Mr. Moucher 

 replied calmly, " He swallowed 'em whole." On the 

 keeper suggesting that there was not much chance 

 of finding a rat in the rabbit's burrow, the moucher 

 agreed, called off his dog, and went his way. In 

 the hedges there was no sign of a rat, but a few 

 rabbits managed to eke out an existence, though 

 heavily persecuted by gentlemen of the road. 



The opening of the hunting season proper brings 

 a new anxiety to the keeper. While it opens in 



early November, no date is recognised. The 

 When keeper would like to see one fixed, and he 

 come would make it after his coverts had been 



shot at least once. Many shooting men 

 would also like to see the idea established that hounds 

 should not come to their woods until after the first 

 shoots, especially where there are many hares. Often 

 a landowner will refuse a master's request for per- 



