Practical Game-Preserving. 324 



plentiful they would be continually getting caught; but 

 should the gins be placed as noted above, eight out of 

 every ten rabbits which may pass along the run will do so 

 untouched, and without moving or throwing the gin. This 

 will, however, sometimes occur, for the reason that one 

 must fit the catch of the trap only sufficiently fast to keep 

 it set, as it is not advisable, in fact is not correct, to set 

 vermin-traps as tightly as those intended for animals of 

 much larger size, such as rabbits, &c., on account of the 

 very slight pressure the tread of a weasel or a stoat bears 

 on the plate of a gin. 



As baits for any traps which may be set against stones 

 placed, as before described, along hedge-banks, the best 

 to employ are either a portion of a rabbit, cut so as to 

 expose the flesh, or of a bird of some sort. It must be 

 placed and fastened by some means on to the stone, or 

 whatever it may be, in as close proximity to the gin as 

 may seem advisable, so that when the vermin, having 

 scented the bait, approaches to reach up to it, the spot 

 upon which the trap is concealed may appear the most 

 convenient place whence the tempting morsel may be 

 obtained. 



The corners of a field which vermin may frequent are 

 also by no means unsuitable places, and are in many cases 

 very fruitful of catches if the traps be cleverly lodged. 

 In such cases, of course, baits are most necessary, and I 

 generally prefer some " high " smelling means of entice- 

 ment, such as a piece of putrid meat, the paunch of a 

 rabbit (including the liver), or, perhaps, a jagged piece 

 of a dead fowl, or anything of a similar character to 

 these. The bait, then, should be dropped as near to the 

 corner as possible without being too exposed, and if the 

 ground be pretty thickly covered with rank grass or such 

 like herbage, a fairly distinct pathway should be formed 



