46 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS chap. 



Tame cats who have once taken to the woods soon get 

 shy and wild, and then produce their young in rabbit-holes, 

 decayed trees, and other quiet places ; thus laying the founda- 

 tion of a half- wild race. It is worthy of notice, that whatever 

 colour the parents of these semi-wild cats may have been, 

 those bred out of them are almost invariably of the beautiful 

 brindled grey colour, as the wild cats. 



A shepherd, whose cat had come to an untimely end — 

 by trap or gun, I forget which — in lamenting her death to 

 me, said it was a great pity so valuable an animal should be 

 killed, as she brought him evety day in the year either a 

 grouse, a young hare, or some other head of game. Another 

 man told me that his cat brought to the house during the 

 whole winter a woodcock or a snipe almost every night, showing 

 a propensity for hunting in the swamps and wet places near 

 which the cottage was situated, and where these birds were in 

 the habit of feeding during the night. A favourite cat of my 

 own once took to bringing home rabbits and hares, but never 

 winged game. Though constantly caught in traps, she could 

 never be cured of her hunting propensities. When caught in 

 an iron trap, instead of springing about and struggling, and by 

 this means breaking or injuring her legs, she used to sit quietly 

 down and wait to be let out. There is a cat at the farm now, 

 who is caught at least twice a week, but from adopting the 

 same plan of waiting quietly and patiently to be liberated, she 

 seldom gets her foot much hurt. 



The animal that requires the greatest care in trapping is 

 the fox. If the trap is too smooth, he slips his foot out ; if too 

 sharp, he cuts off his foot, and escapes, leaving it behind him. 

 I consider the best manner of having fox-traps made is to get 

 them without teeth, but with about three spikes of an inch in 

 length on each side of the trap ; these entering the animal's leg 

 without cutting it, hold him firmly and securely. 



The surest way, however, of destroying foxes (I am 

 speaking of course of foxes of the Highlands, where no 

 hounds are kept) is by poison. But then the rabbit or bait 

 in which the poison is laid should not be touched by the 

 hand, so suspicious is this animal of the slightest taint of 

 man. The most artistic way is to catch a rabbit or crow in 

 a trap, and having killed it with a stick, a small slit should 



