Robert E. Smith

“ I have practised two methods of taking the Badger with great success, the first of which is, when you have found out one of their earths, let two persons go out in the night, while they are in search of their food, and put a thin sack into the hole, and fasten it at the mouth, that the Badger may not run away with it; then let one person remain near the hole, while the other beats round the fields with a dog, in order to drive him home; when he finds the dog after him, he runs to his hole as fast as possible, and goes into the sack, which slips close like a purse ”

“ The Ferret, as has been before observed, in many instances resembles the polecat, and if one should get away from his hutch, and get into the garden or field, if you should chance to get him again, he becomes so wild that you can scarcely venture to touch him. ”

“ GRASS MOUSE. This Mouse is rather larger than the common Mouse, with a muff-head like a water rat, and a short club tail, looking as if the top was cut off, and has a great deal of the nature and disposition of that animal, for it eats no corn at all, but lives on grass and vegetables; being of a very harmless nature, it is a prey to other vermin, as the water rat is, (such as stoats and weasels) which are the worst enemies it has. ”

“ Observe the night that you set your traps going, to lay food that they cannot carry away, and put but a little on the bridge, and on each side, that you may be sure of catching what comes to feed; and if in going round to your traps two or three times, you observe one of them that has not struck, strike it yourself; for sometimes they will not go down easily, if they stand long, but set hard, then the Rats will eat the food out, and not strike the trap. ”

“ WATER RAT. These Rats lie always by the waterside, and feed chiefly on grass and vegetables, eating neither flesh or corn, but they will devour green peas, when in season, if there are any growing near the ditches where they lie; these vermin do not much mischief, except in making holes in banks and spoiling fences; they make kennels or holes by the side of ditches, very much resembling those of the otter, for they have one way out in the water, and another way out by land, in order to escape from their enemies, which ever way pursued. ”

“ But some people are apt to put the tiller in the hole, where it often hangs and prevents the trap from striking, whereas, if placed as directed, it cannot hang in the least, but must strike and take the enemy; whom, in order to secure, when taken, let a piece of wood, about half an inch high, be nailed to the bottom of the trap, on the inside, close to where the door falls, at each end; this will hinder any light from coming in, and prevent the vermin from scratching the door up again, as I have known it sometimes done. ”

“ I have seen one Rat kill another, when put into the large cage, and afterwards eat him; and once had an old she Rat, big with young, which she brought forth in the cage, and immediately eat them; for there is no kind of vermin whatever so savage as a Norway Rat; again, when you find they have taken to a rick of any sort of corn or hay, take some dead Rats, put some arsenic over them, as before observed, then place one in each hole they have made in the thatch, and it will make them all forsake the rick ”

“ I have often turned them into holes after rats, when, if they find a nest of young ones, they will eat them, and if sufficient to satisfy their hunger, they will hunt after no more prey, but fall asleep, for they only go in search of it to serve themselves, and when their bellies are full, you may hunt by yourself ”

“ I was once of that opinion myself, but am now better convinced; indeed when there are but four or five left behind in the trap, they are apt to be very violent and outrageous, you may then shake them out to your dog. There is a wide difference in the temper and disposition of these animals; for some are so savage and untamed, that they will set up their backs, looking very fiercely and crying out, if you do but look at them ”

“ Another way is to place a steel trap, in which you 31will catch him very easily, as he is nothing near so shy as the fox; when you come to his earths or holes, make the mouths of all the angles quite smooth, and come again the next morning, when you will see whether any have been in or gone out, and if you track him in and out, then put a trap in each earth, in the same manner as you did for the fox, and you need not fear catching him, but remember to stake down your trap, that he may not go away with it. ”

“ HAWK Is the largest of the Sparrow-Hawk kind, and is a very fierce and pernicious bird, destroying young ducks and chickens, in yards, &c. about farm-houses, in the fields, they kill black-birds, thrushes, and in the winter-season fieldfares and other small birds; I have driven one from a blackbird, and immediately set down a steel trap, covered quite smoothly, placing the same bird on the bridge of the trap, and have taken the Hawk, which returned soon after for its prey. ”

“ STOAT. This animal in some places is called a Cain, and is the worst small vermin that exists, for if they approach to any warren, pheasantry or chicken-garden, they do incredible mischief, for whatever they kill they seldom eat, but only suck their blood, on which account they are more destructive and pernicious by far, than all the vermin of the ferret kind put together, as I have known one to kill a dozen fowls in a chicken-garden in the space of one night, and then let them remain behind, after having sucked out the blood at the side of the neck ”

“ Sometimes when a Fox is found in the earth, or is hunted in, the method is to dig him out immediately, after the following manner; take a good terrier, that is kept for that purpose, one that will lie at a Fox, then you must listen and sound him as the warreners do their line ferrets; dig a trench across the angle, and, when you have got to the angle, perhaps he will fly back, as they frequently do, then sink another trench near him, and when you have dug down to him, take care he does not bite you, as he is a fierce animal, when drove to desperation, and bites very hard ”

“ And as the noxious part of the creation is not confined to the earth only, many of the winged inhabitants of the air are equally pernicious to the gentleman and the farmer, their natures are described, with proper and viiisuitable directions how to take and destroy them, from the buzzard and the kite, to the smallest bird of prey, without which the author would have estimated his work as incomplete. ”

“ If you are in a warren, put some rabbits guts in the back part of the cube; if these cannot be procured, place some pieces of strong rotten Cheshire cheese, which they are very greedy of; if at a farm get some bits of dead fowl, if possible, and if in a field, it is probable you may find some of the mangled carcases of lambs, which they have killed and hid pieces of them in the ground, which they often do: but remember, in all these particular cases to put the bait in the back part of the cube as before hinted ”

“ SQUIRREL. These little animals are admired for their beauty, and for the sport they afford in hunting them among the trees; they are about the size of the stoat or cain, with a tail as large as their body, which they always turn up when they sit still, to keep their bodies warm; they are of a reddish colour, except under the belly, which is white; they make themselves nests or lodging places, commonly called drays, in a very neat manner, with small sticks, leaves, and moss, in the tops of the trees, where they hoard up nuts to serve them in the winter ”

“ WOOD-OWL. Few persons perhaps imagine this to be a pernicious animal, yet in my opinion, it is the very worst winged vermin that exists; they seize their prey with great fierceness, and break it up exactly as the cat does, by beginning at the fore part. It is very happy for the farmer, and others who keep poultry, that the ducks and chickens are gone to roost before the Owl comes to prey in the night, otherwise there would be few, if any of them left ”

“ SHEEP-KILLING DOG. This animal is extremely pernicious and detrimental, wherever he exists, for when once a Dog takes to killing sheep, he seldom or never leaves the practice off, in which he is extremely shy, and it is a very difficult matter to put a stop to his proceedings till you can discover his owner, which is no easy task, for if once he perceives you are tracing him home, he will go two or three miles another way. ”

“ But of all the noxious animals none do more mischief than rats; both the old English black rat and the Norway rat, especially the latter, which is the most mischievous animal in the creation. In all the above cases, rules, not drawn from theory, but from twenty years strict observation and practice, are laid down in the plainest manner, to find out their haunts and hiding places ”

“ When you have placed the cage properly, pull that end of the trap up next your right hand, just high enough for the Rat to come out into the cage, let the candle stand down by the cage, which you must hold fast with your hand, that they may not drive it away; for sometimes when they see light, they will spring or bolt out with such velocity, that except you hold the cage tight, and close to the trap, they will drive it away, and so escape. ”

“ BLACK SHREW-MOUSE. This animal has a nose like a mole, and much resembles the red shrew-mouse, last described, except in colour; they are very harmless little creatures, for they seldom come to barns or ricks, their residence being amongst the grass, by the sides of ditches which they feed on. You may often hear them as you are walking along, squeaking by the path’s side, and making a noise something like the grasshopper ”

“ This box, therefore, is a safeguard or defence for them, for when any thing disturbs them, they will run in at the holes, at each end of the bottom of the box, to save themselves, and when the ends of the trap are sheltered, they will feed quietly; if therefore your dogs should come and disturb the traps, you must baulk them, and, during your absence, mind to lock the boxes, to keep any person from them, which has always been my constant practice. ”

“ When you have discovered the place, it will be adviseable to put a good strong steel trap in the water, down in the mud; put the mud over the bridge of the trap as much as you can, that he may not discover the trap. ”

“ The Fox is a very subtle, sly, and daring animal, and in hard and severe winters will come to places where hares and pheasants are kept, and destroy a great many of them; he is likewise a mortal enemy to lambs and all kinds of poultry, but scarce in any other instances he is more mischievous 2than in destroying rabbits in warrens, which he frequently does in prodigious numbers, but more especially in stopping time, as I have known the young rabbits of near twenty stops taken away by the Foxes in one night’s time. ”

“ I have been the more particular in my account and description of the different kinds of Mice, as perhaps many of my readers might be unacquainted, that there are so many distinct species of the mouse-kind. ”

“ And as most noblemen, gentlemen, and others, who have country seats are generally, if not constantly, troubled with various kinds of vermin, greatly detrimental and destructive to their property in the following instances, viz. in many places where gentlemen have hare-warrens and pheasantries, they are troubled with foxes, their waters with otters, those great destroyers of fish; their poultry are killed by polecats, stoats, and weasels ”

“ The above animal is not footed like other vermin, for they have a web between each claw, like many water fowls, which greatly accelerates their motion in swimming, when pursued by the dogs; they have no heel, but a round ball under the sole of the foot, the track of which is called their mark, and their dung is called their sprents. ”

“ Another particular of these vermin deserves mentioning, which is, that they seldom eat more than the fore-quarters of any animal they kill, as the cat does, and always leaves the hind quarters untouched, which are found in the nest. I have likewise caught them in moon-light evenings in steel traps, baited with a rabbit-skin stuffed, 166and have often killed many of them with a gun, by keeping close under the hedge, and imitating the squeaking of a mouse, when the Owl has come directly to the place, and I have shot him dead on the spot. ”

“ BLACK RAT. This animal is the old genuine English House-Rat, no other being known in and about houses, for many ages, in this country, and differs in many particulars from the Norway Rat, last described, for they do not burrow and run into shores as the others do, but chiefly lie in the cielings and wainscots in houses, and in out-houses they lie under the ridge-tiles and behind the rafters, and run along the side-plates ”

“ When you have catched some Rats and killed them, take some white arsenic, finely powdered, put it into an old pepper-box, and shake a quantity of it on the fore parts of the dead Rats, and put them down the holes or avenues by the sides of the shores, where they come in at, which will put a stop to their coming any farther; for when they once perceive the arsenic, they will retire immediately, whereas if you was to put them down without the arsenic, the living Rats would eat the dead ones ”

“ When the evening approaches, many animals such as leverets, young rabbits, young pheasants, young partridges, who had lain quiet in the day-time, come out to feed in the stillness and silence of the evening, when there is nothing else to disturb them, the Owl then comes, when they are exposed, and takes away what he pleases, and if they happen to have young ones at the same time, it is impossible to conceive what numbers will be taken away in a night’s time to satisfy his voracious appetite ”

“ WEASEL. The Weasel is the smallest vermin of the ferret kind, and is a very noxious little animal, in many particulars resembling the stoat, last described, but is not capable, on account of its size, of doing half so much mischief, though they will destroy young hares, rabbits, and chickens, and, sucking out their blood, leave them behind ”

“ The reason of having the mould sifted so fine is, that when you set a trap there will be no stones to intervene between the spring and the jaw of the trap, which will sometimes happen without proper observance, and prevent the trap from striking close. ”

“ Some people are afraid of a little expence, and make shift with one trap only, in which case you are obliged to move your traps about, which makes them shy, and missing some of their companions renders them still shyer: mind therefore to have a trap at each place, set them all to feed at the same time, and put a little bundle of straw at each end, that they may go in and out privately ”

“ When you have discovered that they have destroyed your chickens, or sucked your eggs, get a hutch or box trap, and bait it with a small bird or egg, for I have catched many by baiting with an egg, and if you should be at a loss to know at which place he enters, make some shrapes, either with sand or fine mould, as before described, and when you have discovered which way he 61comes, place some small steel traps, and it will be a thousand to one but what you catch him ”

“ They will likewise frequently come to the chicken-gardens and pheasantries, when you must set a steel trap, baited with a dead chicken 156or any other of the birds before mentioned; which they delight to feed on, and in all probability you will lay hold of them, and if you find they have been made shy, by reason of the trap striking and not catching them, which will sometimes, though very rarely, happen, you may destroy them after the following manner: take a live chicken, tie it to a small stake drove in the ground, by one of its legs, laying some bread or corn for it to feed on ”

“ In many country places there are people, who make it their business to take Foxes out of their earths for gentlemen to hunt them at their pleasure; these are properly called bag-foxes. I have known in some stony countries that they set stone traps for them at their earths, so that it is impossible for them to get out without being taken, but of this method of catching them I cannot speak from my own experience, having been only a spectator of the traps, and of consequence cannot be so able to judge of it, as where I have been the principal actor myself. ”