Noose

“ It is usually caught when reposing upon a branch, and by a very simple process: the hunter approaches it whistling, and the animal is stupid enough to sit still, no doubt enjoying the music, until a noose, attached to the end of a stick, is passed over its head. It is captured for the sake of its flesh, which is regarded as very delicate. ”

“ Being out one day with a party of hunters, I saw at a distance a thick bush moving slowly, as by magic, along the top of a dense copse of gum cistus. No horse or man could be seen. One of the hunters exclaimed, ‘a boar has been caught in a noose! See the bush to which it is fastened moving along the top of the copse.’ We decided to take the animal alive, so approaching the bush and long rope to which the noose was attached, we laid hold of the rope and pulled it tight, until the boar was half-strangled. ”

“ Another ingenious plan is used for capturing birds singly. The native makes a sort of screen of branches, and conceals himself within it. In his hand he carries a long and slender rod, at the end of which there is a noose, and within the noose a bait. Under cover of the screen he comes close to the bird, and gently places the treacherous noose near it. By degrees the bird comes closer and closer to the bait, and, as soon as its head is fairly within the noose, it is secured by a dexterous twist of the hand. Sometimes the native does not employ a bait. ”

“ Mode of Taking.—In spring, when some of these birds are seen in a field or meadow, sticks, furnished with limed twigs, should be stuck there, and the birds gently driven to that side, to induce them to settle, which they will soon do. In summer, the noose, spring-trap, and limed twigs, must be employed in the following manner:—If the noose is used, a stake must be set up, about three feet high, slit at the top to put in crossways a stick three inches long, and the noose is placed an inch and a half above, to be of the height of the bird’s breast when it is perched on the stick. ”

“ In this way they catch all sorts of small birds not much larger than quail, on the ground and in trees. If a brown or black partridge answers their call, instead of bird-lime, they fasten a horse-hair noose to the top of their rod, and when they are close to the birds, they keep dipping the top of their rod with considerable skill until they fasten the noose on one of their necks ”

“ One method is simplicity itself: a hair noose is fastened to a lump of clay well worked together; a number of these appliances are scattered about the lucerne fields, which the quails are fond of frequenting; the bird caught in the noose is prevented from flying away owing to the weight of the lump of clay and its getting easily entangled in the grass. ”

“ Nooses.--Catgut (which see) makes better nooses than string, because it is stiff enough to keep in shape when set: brass wife that has been heated red-hot, is excellent; for it has no tendency whatever to twist, and yet is perfectly pliable. Fish-hooks are sometimes attached to springes; sometimes a tree is bent down and a strong cord is used for the noose, by which large animals are strangled up in the air, as leopards are in Abyssinia. A noose may be set in any place where there is a run; it can be kept spread out, by thin rushes or twigs set crosswise in it. ”

“ They were sometimes sold in the cradle and often when only two or three years of age.—See Dosabhoy Framjee’s work on The Parsis, p. 77.
199. Every one has a noose cast around his neck; when a man dies, if he is righteous, the noose falls from his neck; but if wicked, they drag him with that noose down to hell.— (Farg., V, 8.)
200. Fargard, xix, 27-32.
201. Visparad, II, V, XVI, XXII.
202. ”

“ I went down with Fritz, exhorting his brothers to remain quiet, and I consulted with my privy counsellor on the means of taking our prize. I also prepared, as quickly as possible, a long cord with a noose, kept open by a slight stick, which would fall out as soon as the animal’s head entered, while any attempt to escape would only draw the noose closer; the end of this cord was tied to the root of a tree. I took then a piece of bamboo, about two feet long, and splitting it up, tied it firmly at one end, to form a pair of pincers for the nose of the animal. ”

“ It is so not only with the pitfall, but with other common kinds of trap, which, when the animal steps on the catch, drop down on it, or pull a noose round it, or let fly a dart at it, all which are plans known in the uncivilized world. The art of catching birds and beasts with a noose, held in the [212] hand or fastened to the end of a stick, is universal. Perhaps the most skilful noosing is that done on horseback by the herdsmen of Mexico, though it should be noticed that their lazo is not a native American invention ”

“ A noose is lightly thrown over their antlers, and then they are driven to mix with the wild gazelles. Like seeks like, and the latter soon make up to their tame companions, bringing their heads in close proximity to those of the others. The noose which is round the antlers of the tame animal falls over the head of the other and pulls it down. The more it struggles the more it gets entangled, and can not possibly escape. This method is in use all over India. ”

“ We sometimes met persons on horseback, and saw numerous herds of wild cattle and troops of horses grazing upon the plains. We had several opportunities of witnessing the skill of the hunters in taking these animals with the lasso. This is a long rope with a noose at the end. The [Pg 144] hunter, who is mounted, carries this in a coil upon his arm; when he approaches his prey, he whirls it in the air, and at last throws it with such skill and precision that the noose falls over the animal’s neck. ”

“ Thus, then, if an equestrian traveler does not keep a good look-out as he is passing by a bush or thicket, one of these lassoes may be thrown out; the noose, falling over his head, will be jerked tight round his body, and, in the twinkling of an eye, he will be dragged off his horse, and away into the bush, to be stripped of everything he has. ”

“ A kind of noose is made by the Daly River tribes consisting of a long piece of big meshwork, which is loosely suspended across a narrow arm of water, or a creek, known to be frequented by larger varieties of fish. ”

“ If he is an experienced hand, the horses seldom or never escape him, and as soon as he finds himself within twenty or thirty feet of them, he throws the noose with unerring aim over the neck of the one he has selected for his prey. ”

“ On one occasion a lame bird in the flock, which had evidently been caught in a snare and escaped with a slip noose on one leg that had cut into the flesh, making the poor bird very lame, came with the rest. ”

“ Sometimes the noose is ingeniously suspended in a narrow passage which the birds are likely to traverse, and sometimes a simple fall-trap is employed.
To these nooses many allusions are made in the Scriptures. See, for example, Ps. cxxiv. 7: "Our soul is escaped as a bird (tzippor) out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped." Also Prov. vii. 23: "He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter ... as a bird hasteneth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life." ”

“ Some boys had placed in a field a snare by which they hoped to catch a rabbit. It was a sort of noose made of coarse, twisted grass. Fido, the dog, put one of his forefeet [41] in the noose, and in trying to get away his leg was doubled up by it. ”

“ Having tied to the end of a wand a horse hair with a noose, they render themselves masters of the animal by passing this noose over the basis of the spherical part of the eye. When they miss their aim, the crab seldom fails to return, and in the end is almost always taken.
Having early consumed all our provisions, we hoped to find some natives towards the latter part of the day, who would sell us some. ”

“ Fasten a double cord to the end of a stick, and beneath the stick let there be a running noose in the cord; tie a piece of bread to the cord, and present it to the animal; and when he opens his mouth to seize the bait, catch the upper jaw in the noose, run it tight, and the animal is fast. ”

“ The boys in Southern Italy have improved upon and simplified this mode of catching lizards by bending the end of a wisp of grass into a noose, and covering the latter over with a thin film of saliva. The shiny film, like a soap-bubble, is sure to excite the curiosity of the creature. ”

“ Of these the slip-knot noose for the head and feet is the most commonly practised and the most killing. As the cool season approaches, hawkers may be daily met with, even in the villages, offering for sale the stretched skins of these animals. The poorer classes, who are unable to purchase the dearer furs, make use of these cheaper yet pretty skins. ”

“ After taking it out of the noose, he tucks its head in his belt, or lets it float on the water, whilst he proceeds to catch another, or as many more as he can before the birds take the alarm at the struggles of their companions, and fly away. A windy day is generally selected for this employment, when the water is ruffled by waves. On such occasions a skilful native will secure a great many birds. ”

“ I then quickly threw our ass’s halter over its head; I fixed the nose in my split cane, which I secured at the bottom with packthread. Thus I succeeded in subduing the first alarm of this wild animal, as farriers shoe a horse for the first time. I wholly removed the noose that seemed to bring the creature into a dangerous situation; I fastened the halter with two long ropes to two roots near us, on the right and left, and let the animal recover itself, noticing its actions, and devising the best way to tame it in the completest manner. ”

“ When a herd of wild gazelles is found, the tame one is sent among them, but he no sooner approaches than one of the males of the wild herd advances to oppose him, and in butting with his horns is soon entangled in the noose. ”

“ They may be divided into two classes—those with upright nooses, and those in which the noose is Page 44 spread on the ground, the latter of which are commonly called "ground snares." We will give our attention first to the "upright" style. These are rather entitled to preference on account of the harmless death which they inflict, invariably catching by the neck. Whereas the ground nooses as frequently lift their prey into the air by their feet, and thus prolong their suffering. Twitch-ups are the most successful and sure of any snares, and that, too, without being complicated. ”

“ A noose of fine, soft wire or plaited horse-hair is fastened to the end of the spring-pole, and laid evenly around on the tops of the circle of pegs, which must be of an equal height. An apple or a carrot is speared upon the sharp end of the bait-stick. The rabbit smells the bait, puts its head over the fence and through the noose to take a nibble. When it touches the bait-stick, up goes the noose, and it is caught. But the snare on top of the little fence is likely to fall or be rubbed off, so a deep, sharp notch must be made into the top 338of every peg into which the noose fits. ”

“ By now supporting the inside end with the bait stick, and carefully adjusting the noose so as to completely fill the arch, the trap will be set.
Page 46 In order to reach the bait, the rabbit or bird must necessarily pass its head through the noose, after which, if the bait be scarcely touched, the animal's doom is sealed, and he is lifted into the air, generally suffering almost instant death. It is well known that in the case of a rabbit the neck is broken by a very slight blow, a strong snap of the finger being often sufficient. ”

“ It slips instantaneously 98round its support, and in so doing releases the tension of the tree or bent stick acting as a spring, which in its upward recoil draws a skilfully fixed noose tight round the neck of the animal, which is then strangled to death. ”

“ They are either taken in nets, throwing worms as baits, or with nooses made of horse hair, and set in the paths they trace in the rushes, or, which is cruel and destructive, in the neighbourhood of their nests. ”

“ A Goose has no more than the thick Joints of the Legs and Wings left to the Body; the Feet, and the Pinnions being cut off, to accompany the other Giblets, which consist of the Head and Neck, with the Liver and Gizzard. Then at the bottom of the Apron of the Goose A, cut an hole, and draw the Rump through it; then pass a Skewer through the small part of the Leg, through the Body, near the Back, as at B; and another Skewer through the thinnest part of the Wings, and through the Body, near the Back, as at C, and it will be right. ”

“ We had not believed the usually despised goose could be so beautiful a bird. These geese were as white as snow, had backs and wings covered with long curling feathers like ostrich plumes, and had bright pink bills and feet; but for their unfortunate voices they might have set up for swans. Our dear birds, however, did not approve of being summarily torn from the paternal pond and packed in a basket, so they hissed and cackled all the rest of the day in a thoroughly goose-like and provoking manner. ”

“ I see no difference between this bird and that called simply the brant, common to the lakes the Ohio and Mississippi &c. The small goose of this country is reather less than the brant; it's head and neck like the brant are reather larger than that of the goose in proportion; their beak is also thicker and shorter. their notes are more like those of our tame gees; in all other rispects they are the same with the large goose with which, they so frequently ascociate that it was some time after I first observed this goose before I could determine whether it was a distinct speceis or not. ”

“ These people have learned by heart the story of the goose that laid the golden egg; and while they hunt the eggs very early in the morning and with great thoroughness, they do not actually kill the bird. The goose, on the other hand, does all in its power to direct its energies in some other direction than the laying of eggs, and with some success. ”