78 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS chap. 



some method, and there are sure to be some cunning old 

 patriarchs who will not enter any kind of trap.^ I believe that 

 the best kind of trap in a house is the common gin, laid open 

 and uncovered in their runs. They then do not seem to 

 suspect any danger, but when the trap is covered they are sure 

 to detect its presence, and, like all wild animals, they are much 

 more cautious in avoiding a concealed danger than an open 

 one. Poison is the best means of getting rid of them, and the 

 manner of applying it is as follows : — For the space of a fort- 

 night feed the rats with good wholesome meal and water in 

 some quiet room or cellar accessible to all these troublesome 

 inmates of your house. At first two or three rats may find it 

 out ; these are sure to lead others to the place, till the whole 

 company of freebooters go for their share. As soon as you see 

 that they seem to have collected in numbers in your feeding- 

 room, season your meal with plenty of arsenic, and you may be 

 pretty sure of its being all devoured. Continue giving them 

 this till you find no more come, and by that time probably 

 there are none left alive in the house. The only danger is, 

 that some of them may die behind the wainscots of your rooms, 

 in which case you must either open the place and search till 

 you find the dead animal, or you must vacate that room till 

 the dreadful stench is over. That rats carry off hens' and even 

 turkeys' eggs to some considerable distance is a fact ; how they 

 accomplish this feat I should like to know, as they do it with- 

 out breaking the shell, or leaving any mark upon it.^ A crow 

 or magpie, Columbus-like, shortens the difficulty by sticking 

 the lower mandible of his bill into a hen's egg when he wants 

 to carry it off, but this is beyond a rat's capabilities ; neverthe- 

 less, eggs form one of their favourite repasts. The increase of 

 rats, if left to breed in peace, would exceed that of almost any 

 other animal, as they produce broods of six or eight young ones 

 in rapid succession, throughout the greatest part of the year. 

 In building a nest for her young, the female carries off every 



' Readers who wish to become acquainted with the habits of rats, and the best 

 methods of exterminating them, should read Barkley's Studies in the Art of Ratcatching. 



' Mr. Speedy in his Sport in the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland writes : 

 " From personal observation I can testify how one was carried. Going hurriedly into a 

 stable where hens were in the habit of dropping their eggs, I witnessed a huge rat bearing 

 an egg along the manger towards its hole at the end. It hugged it with one of its fore 

 feet, holding it against its breast, and in this manner was travelling along the outer beam 

 of the manger." 



