The Assessment And Treatment Of Children Who

Abuse Animals The Anicare Child Approach 1st

Edition Kenneth Shapiro download

https://ebookbell.com/product/the-assessment-and-treatment-of-
children-who-abuse-animals-the-anicare-child-approach-1st-
edition-kenneth-shapiro-4340934

Explore and download more ebooks at ebookbell.com

Here are some recommended products that we believe you will be
interested in. You can click the link to download.

The Assessment And Treatment Of Women Offenders An Integrative

Perspective Kelley Blanchette

https://ebookbell.com/product/the-assessment-and-treatment-of-women-
offenders-an-integrative-perspective-kelley-blanchette-4299510

International Perspectives On The Assessment And Treatment Of Sexual

Offenders Theory Practice And Research 1st Edition Reinhard Eher

https://ebookbell.com/product/international-perspectives-on-the-
assessment-and-treatment-of-sexual-offenders-theory-practice-and-
research-1st-edition-reinhard-eher-2391622

Harm To Others The Assessment And Treatment Of Dangerousness Van Brunt

https://ebookbell.com/product/harm-to-others-the-assessment-and-
treatment-of-dangerousness-van-brunt-5310462

Clinical Manual For The Assessment And Treatment Of Suicidal Patients

Second John Chiles

https://ebookbell.com/product/clinical-manual-for-the-assessment-and-
treatment-of-suicidal-patients-second-john-chiles-11164660
Pocket Guide For The Assessment And Treatment Of Eating Disorders 1st
Edition James Lock

https://ebookbell.com/product/pocket-guide-for-the-assessment-and-
treatment-of-eating-disorders-1st-edition-james-lock-51644002

The Perversion Of Youth Controversies In The Assessment And Treatment

Of Juvenile Sex Offenders Frank C Dicataldo

https://ebookbell.com/product/the-perversion-of-youth-controversies-
in-the-assessment-and-treatment-of-juvenile-sex-offenders-frank-c-
dicataldo-51757086

Measuring The Effects Of Racism Guidelines For The Assessment And

Treatment Of Racebased Traumatic Stress Injury Robert T Carter Alex L
Pieterse

https://ebookbell.com/product/measuring-the-effects-of-racism-
guidelines-for-the-assessment-and-treatment-of-racebased-traumatic-
stress-injury-robert-t-carter-alex-l-pieterse-51905602

Practical Assessment And Treatment Of The Patient With Headaches In

The Emergency Department And Urgent Care Clinic 1st Edition Dawn A
Marcus

https://ebookbell.com/product/practical-assessment-and-treatment-of-
the-patient-with-headaches-in-the-emergency-department-and-urgent-
care-clinic-1st-edition-dawn-a-marcus-2450646

Assessment And Treatment Of Muscle Imbalancethe Janda Approach Phillip

Page

https://ebookbell.com/product/assessment-and-treatment-of-muscle-
imbalancethe-janda-approach-phillip-page-1921242
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of How to Make
and Set Traps
 This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.

Title: How to Make and Set Traps

Author: J. Harrington Keene

Release date: December 3, 2015 [eBook #50600]

Most recently updated: October 22, 2024

Language: English

Credits: E-text prepared by Craig Kirkwood, Demian Katz, and

the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
(http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously
made available by Villanova University Digital Library
(http://digital.library.villanova.edu)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO MAKE

AND SET TRAPS ***
The Project Gutenberg eBook, How to Make and Set Traps, by J.
Harrington Keene

Note: Images of the original pages are available through Villanova

University Digital Library. See
http://digital.library.villanova.edu/Item/vudl:296237
 Transcriber’s Note:
The Table of Contents was created by the transcriber and placed in the public domain.
Figure numbers are not consecutive, with some numbers missing and other numbers
duplicated.
Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. THE MOLE.
II. THE WEASEL, STOAT AND POLECAT.
III. RATS.
IV. THE OTTER.
V. THE SQUIRREL.
VI. BIRD TRAPPING.
VII. BIRD-CATCHING BY NET.
VIII. BIRD-CATCHING WITH TRAPS.
IX. BIRD-CATCHING WITH TRAPS, ETC.
The Art of Stretching and Curing Skins.
Dressing and Tanning Skins and Furs.
Coloring or Dyeing Skins and Furs.
Some Additional Valuable Miscellaneous Information
Useful Alike to the Hunter, Trapper and Angler.
How to Make and Set Traps
Including Hints on How to Trap

Moles, Weasels, Otter, Rats, Squirrels and

Birds.

ALSO HOW TO CURE SKINS.

COPIOUSLY ILLUSTRATED.

By J. HARRINGTON KEENE.

New York:
FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher,
24 Union Square.
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1902, by
FRANK TOUSEY,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C.
HOW TO MAKE AND SET TRAPS.
 I.
THE MOLE.

Dirt has been defined as “matter in the wrong place.” It is very

useful, and, indeed, indispensable, as earth in a garden, but
decidedly unbecoming and dirty when on your face or clothes. In a
similar way, most of the creatures termed “vermin” are in
themselves very graceful and beautiful specimens of the Creator’s
handiwork, but when they encroach on man’s paths of progress and
improvement they become “vermin,” and though all life should be
looked upon as a fearful and wonderful thing, not to be lightly taken
from its possessor, they are then justifiably slain.
The little gentleman in black velvet—the mole—is a lovely-coated
little fellow, possessing many virtues, such as courage, industry, and
parental affection, but when he once gets into your father’s garden,
which has probably cost money and exceeding care to render it neat
and productive, our little friend is transformed into one of the most
troublesome of “vermin,” and must be relentlessly sacrificed by the
trapper. If this is not done, Master Mole will himself sacrifice the
crops in his efforts to get at the worms, which, as the late Charles
Darwin so conclusively showed, are one of the great regenerating
forces of the land’s fertility.
Look at rats again. See how lithe and agile they are, how fond of
their young, and provident in storing food for future consumption;
yet they are without a redeeming excellency if, like dirt, they are in
the wrong place—as they are, by the way, pretty certain to be.
Of the squirrel Mr. Ruskin, in his marvelously eloquent way, has said:
“Of all quadrupeds ... there is none so beautiful or so happy as the
squirrel. Innocent in all his ways, harmless in his food, playful as a
kitten, but without cruelty, and surpassing the dexterity of the
monkey, with the grace of a bird, the little dark-eyed miracle of the
forest goes from branch to branch more like a sunbeam than a living
thing. The chamois is slow to it, and the panther clumsy. It haunts
you, listens for you, hides from you, looks for you, loves you, as if it
were a plaything invented by the angel that walks by your children.”
Alas! there is a reverse side to this beautiful word-picture of the
great art critic. The gamekeeper will tell you that mischievous Master
“Squiggy” is very fond of birds’ eggs—many a tiny wren, and many a
sweet-voiced blackbird has discovered this also—and that he above
all will often suck the dove-hued eggs of the pheasant. Much,
therefore, as I admire this little creature when he is in his native
firtree, I shall tell you how to catch him alive, so that he may be
kept away from doing harm.
Again, the brilliant kingfisher, flashing by you like a beam of azure
light, is in his right place near the stickleback pond, but on my trout
river he is “vermin.” The same exposition of the properties of vermin
might be followed out in reference to all the creatures I intend to
hereafter teach you how to capture or destroy.
So much by way of introduction, and now suppose, as I have above
referred to “the little gentleman in the velvet suit,” we begin with
him. Do not be alarmed at the few items of natural history I am
going to give you in reference to each “varmint.” It is better for you
to know about the funny little ways of the lower creation now than
wait till you are men, and perhaps unable to devote much time to
the acquisition of such knowledge. Besides, there is nothing mean or
paltry in such studies. Why, the great German Heber and our hardly
less great Sir John Lubbock have devoted their lives to ants and such
small fry till marvels of intelligence in these insects have been
unfolded to their wondering vision. Even the wise and mighty King
Solomon did not forget them. Do not despise small things because
they are small, therefore, for are we not ourselves as motes and
specks of dust in the sunbeam in the immensity of God?
I most, however, return to the mole, or you may accuse me of
preaching a sermon when you were expecting to hear how to catch
vermin.
Well, the scientific name of the mole is Talpa Europæa, and its
distribution is all over Europe. France, Italy, Spain, Portugal,
Germany, Holland, Sweden, and Denmark alike produce it as well as
our own land. The main thing—or one of them—that arrests the
attention on first seeing the mole is the very hand-like fore paws.
These are attached to the body by a short forearm, and suggest
immense strength—which, as a matter of fact, they possess. They
are used for scooping the earth from before and throwing it on one
side; and for this purpose the claws are long and trenchant. The
hind feet, which are comparatively small, serve the purpose of
throwing out the earth behind with incredible quickness. The head
also, being sharp-pointed, offers no opposition to this boring through
the soft soil, and the eyes, being so tiny, are never injured by the
soil through which the pointed snout passes.
For a long time people failed to discover that the mole possessed
eyes, so rudimentary and hidden are they. They are covered by the
soft fur, and it is to be presumed that as they are of little or no use
in the total darkness of subterranean passages, they serve only to
apprise their owner of the approach of light whenever it may find
itself near the surface of the ground. It sometimes has happened to
me to find a mole strayed from its habitation, I suppose, and on the
surface of the soil. From the experiment of putting an obstacle in
front of it, and its avoidance thereof, I have come to the conclusion
that it can see slightly, though it is evident when you dissect the
head that the organs of hearing are vastly more developed than
those of sight. The sense of smell is perhaps stronger than that of
hearing—as one would infer from the long, pointed, greyhound-like
snout; and this should be borne in mind when setting the trap. If
indeed, in the case of any animal, you are told that the sense of
smell is well developed, handle the ginsnare or trap as little as
possible with the naked hand. There is a distinctive odor in the
human hand which animals, whether vermin or not, seem instantly
to recognize.
Moles construct a fortress, or habitation, under a hillock or some
such convenient protection as a sort of central position, from which
they proceed
outwards
through various
“runs” or roads
in search of
food (see Fig.
2). This fortress
has a dome of
earth, which is
beaten hard by Fig. 2.
the creature,
and so
rendered strong and impervious to rain, snow, dews, or frost. A in
Fig. 2 represents the hollow center, which is also dry and hard,
whilst B B B signify the ramifying tunnels leading into the galleries of
the central fortress, and outwards to the tracts for feeding and
exploration, as well as to the nests of the various pairs of sexes
forming the community. Along these tracts the individuals travel and
obtain their livelihood, never stopping to gossip; for if, indeed, one
mole meets another by chance, one must turn out of the way into
the nearest alley, or there is a “row,” which generally means death to
the weaker—for, let me tell you, Mr. Talpa is a very pugnacious little
man when thwarted.
Of course, you know that the food of the mole is chiefly comprised
of worms—and speaking of that reminds me of a method I once saw
of catching moles, which was cruel but very singular. I was fishing
on the Colne, near Wraysbury, and I noticed an old man in the field
behind me industriously going over the ground, and here and there
drawing out a live mole by means of what seemed a string.
I laid down my rod and went over to him, and after a little
persuasion I got to understand the whole bag of tricks. His method
was to dig down to a fresh tunnel and “lay” a lobworm, threaded on
a rather small fish-hook tied on fine brass wire, covering in the hole
with leaves and dirt and securing the wire by a string to a stout peg.
The mole, being almost sure to return, would thus take the bait, and
in most cases get hooked in the mouth. This seems to me, however,
a needlessly cruel way of mole-catching when there are others quite
as effectual and practically painless, and I shall therefore not go any
farther into the particulars necessary for its practice.
Moles are extremely voracious and, this being so, they crave and
enjoy large quantities of water. I have frequently watched moles
descending by a beaten run to the water—and, indeed, just opposite
where I am writing there is a tiny roadway from a mole hillock to the
neighboring ditch. Should a plentiful supply such as this not be
handy, the little animal sinks a well for himself, beating the interior
hard and forming quite a little shaft, which receives the rain and
stores it. I came across one some time ago which was quite a foot in
depth and almost full.
I have said that there is a fortress usually built by a colony of moles
in the approximate form of Fig. 2, and so there is. The aim of the
mole-catcher should be if possible to find out where this central
position is and cut off retreat. I have seen the mole-catcher in
Windsor Park dig the moles out on finding out this metropolis of
moles—as it might be fitly called.
It has been proved that immediately on anything very alarming
occurring, they forsake their explorations and flee into the citadel.
This is how it was done and who did it.
Monsieur le Court, a French gentleman, very sensibly believing that
there was little else but horror and danger in the tumult and
bloodshed of the great French Revolution, fled from the court where
he had waited on and been the companion of the highest, and
secluded himself in the depth of the country to become the historian
and friend of the humble La Taupe, as the French term the mole. M.
Geoffrey St. Hillaire visited him, and together they watched their
opportunity till one of the moles had penetrated far from the fortress
in search of food.
Le Court then placed straws with little flags on the end out of the
ground at intervals in the passage behind the mole in such a way
that if the creature fled back again it would infallibly knock them
down. With a trumpet buried, leaving the mouth-piece out of the
ground, he blew a blast loud enough to shake the good-nature out
of the best toy of your acquaintance, and instantly one after the
other, almost as fast as a horse can trot, down went the little flags
till the central home was reached. The mole usually builds at the
intersection of several of the roads and not in the habitation. Its nest
consists of fibers and dried grass, straw, etc., and the young seldom
number more than five. Moles will sometimes take the water, but
such instances are extremely rare; there is no reason, however, why
it should not be a good swimmer, its front paws being so spatulous
and strong.
Mole trapping is very seldom practiced,
except by professionals, who besides the
blood money generally awarded on the
production of each mole’s tail, make a very
nice little amount by selling the skins. Still
there is nothing difficult about mole
catching, and the most stupid boy could
render himself successful if he observes a
little and follows the directions I am about
to give. First, then as to tools, which are
indispensable when one is out for a day’s
trap-setting. Fig. 3 shows an implement
which at A consists of an iron heavy spike
which is used for making holes for the
insertion of the spring stick of the trap to be
described presently. B is the wooden haft—
ash is as good as any; C is a sort of spatula
or little spade for digging into a mole run.
Fig. 4 shows a light hatchet or a rather long
handle for cutting hazel or ash-spring
sticks, pointing them, etc.
Now as to the traps themselves. Fig. 5
shows the iron trap, usually sold with
Fig. 3. Fig. galvanized uprights and claws. A indicates
4. the spring which, on the mole by placing its
head in the circular orifice of B releasing the
latter, closes the claws to, killing the mole
instantly. B, of course, is a movable tongue of the
shape shown at C, and ought to be tied to the body
of the trap in case the mole should by any means
escape, pulling the tongue (C) after it. This is, of
course, a very neat kind of trap, but a dozen of them
would come expensive, and besides, I do not prefer
them in actual practice on a large scale, as they are
by no means so likely to be viewed without suspicion
by the mole as are the homespun traps I am going
to describe.
Get a strip of wood (deal is as good as anything)
about six inches long by four broad and half an inch
thick, like D, Fig. 6. Bore nine holes in it, four for the
reception of the ends of two half circular hoofs of
wood shown at A, and four smaller ones for the two
wires at A2 A2 to pass through. One largish hole is
made in the center, and through this passes a cord
Fig. 5. with a knot at the end (C). B shows a piece of wood
cut like a little spatula with a somewhat blunt handle
or head (see B2). This tongue is placed against the
knot when the spring hazel stick E is in position as in Fig. 7. I want
you to look carefully at Fig. 6 because it very nearly explains itself.
The whole apparatus is buried in the ground in the run of a mole,
and fastened down by sticks stuck athwart and across, as shown at
Fig. 7. The stick E is thus kept in position by the knot C and the
tongue B and B2. When a mole passes through the circular loops at
A A it hits its nose against B and knocks it out, releasing the knot C,
which in turn releases the bent stick, up this flies, and one of the
wires A2 are bound to catch the hapless Talpa, compressing it so
strongly as to kill it almost instantly.
These are the
details of how
to set the trap.
Having found
out a run
where the
mole-heaps are
fresh, or have
recently been
thrown up, cut
down with the
spade end of
your tool (Fig.
3) into it, and
with your
hands take out
the dirt, feeling
for and making
Fig. 6.
clear the
direction of the
passage each way.
Now with the pointed
end of Fig. 3 make a
hole slantwise, but
not too much so, for
the insertion of E
(Fig. 6), which
should be a hazel,
withy, or ash stick Fig. 7.
from half an inch in
diameter. Adjust the
string of the trap to the top of it, and then set the tongue, carefully
spreading the loops of wire within the hoops. Now, with the left
hand on the trap, and assisted by the knee, bend the spring stick
down, place the trap in its position, and with the right hand force in
some short hazel sticks across and across, as shown in Fig. 7. This
done, your trap is set, and a turf can be broken up and spread round
the top of it, to keep out any light, from the interior of the run. If my
readers have carefully gone through this explanation with me there
is no fear but that they will be able to make and set the trap—and
also catch moles.
Damp weather, or after a warm shower, is the best time to set these
traps; and as many as twenty or thirty should be systematically set
per day while moles exist and good weather lasts. The straightened
character of the stick will infallibly indicate when the trap is sprung,
and if no mole be caught move it a little farther away, but not away
from the colony entirely, and set again.
The skins of the moles are in best condition in autumn, and if a
sufficient number be properly cured, and set together by a
professional furrier, a warm and rich garment, either cloak, hat, or
waistcoat can be made. I have a mole-skin waistcoat I have worn for
four winters, and it is far from being worn out yet. Queen Victoria
has eight hundred skins sent annually to Windsor Castle by the Park
mole-catcher, for preparation and making up. I dare say this man
catches two or three thousand moles every year, and yet the number
seem not to decline, so unfailing is the multiplication of these velvety
little fellows.
The professional mole-catcher usually skins his moles in a very
summary manner. Simply passing a very sharp knife round the head,
and cutting off the forefeet, he turns the skin off inside out as I
should do an eel. Indeed, it is a more rapid process than eel-
skinning, for I once had a match with a mole-catcher, which was that
I was to skin six fair-sized eels, while he skinned six moles. I lost,
though I am exceedingly quick with eels, by one eel, much to my
annoyance, for I had loudly boasted of my dexterity. Having skinned
his mole as I described, the mole-catcher then simply stuffs a
pledget of hay or wadding into the skin and leaves it to dry.
If you have time, however, it is much better to skin the mole by
making an incision down the belly, and taking off the fur as you
would do in the case of a rabbit. It should then be tacked with small
tin tacks to a dry board, the inside toward you, and after removing
with a blunt knife any particles of fat, it should be dressed with a
soap made as follows:—whiting or chalk, 1 1/2 oz.; soft soap, 1 oz.;
chloride of lime, 2 oz. If these ingredients are not handy powdered
alum will serve, though not so well.
Now, one word in conclusion of this chapter on the mole, and it will
serve as good advice whenever you are trapping. Be quiet; do not
go lumbering all over the ground with the tread of a cart-horse, for it
must be borne in mind that the mole has not only a good perception
of actual sounds, but an exquisite sense of vibration. Like a trout,
the softest tread will in some cases apprise it of danger and cause it
to retire to its citadel. Your object is to catch moles by cutting off
their retreat, for if they are in the central habitation they may not
take the route when next a start is made that you desire and in
which the trap is set.
 II.
THE WEASEL, STOAT AND POLECAT.

“If we consider the animal creation on a broad scale, the aggregate

of living beings will be found to be the devourers and destroyers of
others.” The editor of Cassel’s Natural History is responsible for this
statement, and it struck me as a forcible and appropriate one for this
chapter on weasels, etc. Without doubt the weasel, next to the rat,
is one of the most destructive of our vermin, preying as it does with
extraordinary ferocity on leverets, chicken, young ducks, pigeons,
rabbits, in fact, on all creatures more timorous than itself. Truly it is
not a very formidable enemy to the farmer in connection with his
granaries and other stores, for it is an inveterate slayer of ruts and
mice, but the gamekeeper cannot tolerate it. Its “treasons,
stratagems and spoils” are, without exception, excessive above all
other of the spoiling mammalia whatsoever.
Perhaps you doubt the conclusions to which I arrive in reference to
this pretty, brown-backed white-bodied little animal, and there are
some naturalists whose writings seem to clothe it with very different
characteristics. A certain Mademoiselle de Laistre seems to
contradict, in one of her letters, the commonly received opinion that
it cannot be domesticated. She describes with touching minuteness
how her weasel would drink milk out of her hands and fondle with
her, showing signs of satisfaction and enjoyment, which could
scarcely be apart from intelligence. “The little creature,” she says,
“can distinguish my voice amid twenty others, and springs over
every one in the room till it finds me. Nothing can exceed the lively
and pleasing way it caresses me with its two little paws; it frequently
pats me on the chin in a manner that expresses the utmost
fondness. This, with a thousand other kindnesses, convinces me of
the sincerity of its attachment. He is quite aware of my intention
when dressed to go out, and then it is with much difficulty I can rid
myself of him. On these occasions he will conceal himself behind a
cabinet near the door and spring on me as I pass with astonishing
quickness.”
This testimony would seem to rather invest mustela vulgaris with
domestic virtues at least rare in his family, and, sooth to say, there is
a vast crowd of witnesses waiting to be heard, whose report of his
character is far different. The weasel, agile and lithe as he is, is
ferocious to the degree which scorns fear, and there are many
instances wherein he has attacked the absolute viceroy of creation—
man.
I recollect once chasing a weasel with some determination and
finding myself suddenly confronted by some seven or eight others,
who ran up my legs and endeavored to reach my face. Fortunately I
beat them off and killed seven with the stick I carried, but I feel
satisfied I should not have escaped so well if I had not stood my
ground and luckily possessed a stick.
I have frequently heard of similar experiences, and one I find is
recorded in a cutting from a Scotch newspaper in my scrap-book.
One night, it appears, the father of Captain Brown, the naturalist,
was returning from Gilmerton, near Edinburgh, by the Dalkeith road.
He observed on the high ground at a considerable distance betwixt
him and Craigmillar Castle a man who was leaping about performing
a number of antic gestures more like those of a madman than of a
sane person. After contemplating this apparently absurd conduct, he
thought it might be some unfortunate maniac, and, climbing over
the walls, made directly towards him. When he got pretty near he
saw that the man had been attacked, and was defending himself
against the assaults of a number of small animals which he at first
took for rats, but which, in fact, turned out on getting closer, to be a
colony of from fifteen to twenty weasels, which the unfortunate man
was tearing from him and endeavoring to keep from his throat. Had
he not been a powerful man, capable of sustaining the extreme
fatigue of this singular exertion, he probably would have succumbed
to the repeated efforts made by the ferocious little creatures to get
at his throat. As it was, his hands were much bitten, and bleeding
profusely.
It further appears that the commencement of the battle was nearly
as follows. He was walking slowly through the park when he
happened to see a weasel. He ran at it, and made several
unsuccessful attempts to strike it with a small cane he held in his
hand. On coming near the rock, he got between it and the animal,
and thus cut off retreat. The weasel squeaked out aloud, when a
sortie of the whole colony was made, and the affray commenced.
Apropos of this, I have read somewhere of a colony of rats attacking
a condemned criminal in the sewers of Paris—or in a dungeon
closely contiguous—and I can quite believe that hunger and
numbers would render these horrible vermin capable of homicide.
I do not quite see how any one can pity the members of this weasel
family. Let any one of my boy readers hear the agonized cries of a
pursued rabbit as it finds its relentless foe chasing it with a
determination and persistence quite unequaled, and he will probably
find the American love of fair play prompt him to take the weaker
creature’s part.
Emphatically I declare it—a weasel never relinquishes its quarry till
the life’s blood has been sucked and the brain extracted and eaten.
Then wasteful as the little tyrant is, the rats may have the
remainder, whilst it seeks for more prey. Its little finger-thick body
and black, venom-leaden eyes seem the incarnation of
destructiveness, whilst over the sharp incisive teeth rows might well
be written
“Ch’entrate lasciate ogni speranza,”
the terrible epigraph Dante, in his wonderful “Divina Commedia,”
saw inscribed over the portals of the infernal regions.
Perhaps there is one redeeming feature in all this pitiless ferocity,
and that is the indomitable courage with which the weasel defends
its young against all marauders. It breeds as fast as a rabbit—that is,
two or three, or even more times in a year—and its nest of dried
herbage and undergrowth is generally made in the hollow of some
old tree or wall. Close by the nest may often be found the remains
of putrid mice, rats, birds, etc., which circumstance has suggested to
some naturalists the conclusion that the weasel prefers carrion to
fresh food. This is erroneous. It is true that it hunts, like some dogs,
entirely, or nearly so, by scent, and will even follow the sightless
mole through the interminable windings of its burrow; but fresh flesh
and blood are its delight, and if there be a plentitude of food it
disdains all the grosser parts of its prey with a fastidiousness worthy
of Apicius, the gourmet. The weasel generally produces five or six
young ones at a birth.
I do not
counsel sparing
the weasel any
more than the
rat. The best
place for the
gins to be set is
underneath a
wall whereby
the weasel is
known to
travel. The best
trap
unquestionably Fig. 11.
is the steel
trap, or gin,
and the best bait is the inside of a newly-killed rabbit. This is the
concrete essence of my experience. You can scent the bait with
musk, and this addition will often prove of exceeding service. At the
ends of drains, in the hollows of old buildings, in the dry tracts of
ditches, by old trees—all these are likely places and a careful watch
will often discover their tracks. In setting the gin do not allow it to
spring hard as if you expected an elephant of the Jumbo type to
tread on the plate. On the contrary, let it spring very lightly, and if
possible hang the bait up, so that the creature puts a foot on the
plate and so gets caught. A very good sort of trap for open places is
a fall-trap, which may be made at home and is useful for nearly all
kinds of vermin, including even birds (See Fig. 11). Some little
explanation is needed for the complete understanding of this trap. A
is a board hollowed near the letter A to relieve e when the trap falls.
B is a slab of lead or iron cut to admit a and f; h is a hinge holding c,
which, when adjusted at g, impinges on a, and so sustains the slab
B. On the little hooks d the bait is fixed, and the weasel confidently
places his foot on e. Of course f then springs from g and down falls
the slab, crushing the captive instantly. A stone slab is quite as
useful, if not more so, than lead or iron, and it is evident that this
fall-trap can be set with the greatest ease and delicacy.
The next useful
trap is termed
“The Fig. 4
Trap,” from its
resemblance to
that character,
and is shown in
the engraving
(Fig. 12). This
consists of a
large slab of
stone, metal, or
wood, propped
up by three
pieces of wood Fig. 12.
(A, B and C). If
the engraving be carefully examined it will be seen to consist of a
perpendicular A, of a horizontal bar C, at one end of which is
attached the bait D, and of a slanting stick B. The upright A is
usually half an inch square, and cut to a sort of chisel-shape at top;
a notch is also cut in the side of the stretcher C, as shown in the
side diagram x, to prevent it slipping down; and a notch is also cut
at the top of B to receive the upright, as well as in C, to fix it, B
being at this latter point of a chisel shape. It will be obvious to the
attentive reader that if this trap be set carefully, and with a
sufficiency of delicacy, a very slight tug at D will be sufficient to
bring down the slab, crushing the animal, or, if a hollow be made in
the ground, imprisoning it. This trap, for nearly all vermin (of course,
except moles), is very cheap and effective; and for cats—in their
wrong places, of course—is remarkably useful, especially if D
represent a sponge, on which tincture of valerian or oil of rhodium
has been sprinkled. One advantage of this trap is that it is
inexpensive, and not likely to be coveted by anybody else. The gin
has, however, preference in my mind over other artificial traps for
weasels, and I counsel all my readers to adopt it as the surest if
their pockets will sustain the initial expense. There is, however,
nothing lost in endeavoring to make your own traps, for such
perseverance implies interest in the pursuit of trapping, and this
necessarily is the central motive towards the acquirement of natural
knowledge.
There is one method of capturing weasels which I have found very
useful, though it entails the loss of an innocent live bird in many
cases. Form a sort of oblong square with brushwood and close it all
in except two narrow lanes leading to the center, at which point peg
down a young chicken or bird. Set the traps, as closely concealed as
possible at the ends of these lanes, so that neither by ingress nor
egress can the weasel escape without the chance of being caught.
Each trap should be set very lightly, and in some dry ditch near a
covert, or by the side of a wall, or, in fact, in any likely spot
recognized by the trained eye.
Here is another bad character in the polecat, or foumart, and as it is
the largest of the two, it commonly does most damage, though in
saying this I really am not sure I can place either or them first in this
respect. The weasel and polecat are unmitigated robbers and
assassins, and according to opportunity are given indifferently to bad
habits of the worst character. The polecat is, however, nearly sixteen
inches from that to eighteen inches in length, and its bite is terrific
and sometimes poisonous. Beware, therefore, of it when releasing
one caught in a trap; in fact, as I before impressed on you, “kill it
first.” The body of the polecat has a woolly undercoat of pale yellow,
while the longer hairs are of a deep glossy brown.
Its habits are very similar to those of the weasel, and it commonly
kills chickens by biting the head off and then sucking the blood,
leaving perhaps a dozen bodies as mementoes of its visitation. I
have known it to catch fish, and I caught one in a trap, set as I
supposed at the time, for an otter. The otter turned out to be a
polecat, however, which measured, exclusive of the tail, fourteen
inches. Eels seemed to be the prey for which it took water, as I had
previously found the remains of several half-eaten on the shore.
This circumstance was a strange one to me, and altogether
exceptional, until I looked up my natural history books, when I found
that Bewick refers to a similar fact in his “Quadrupeds.” He says:
—“During a severe storm one of these animals was traced in the
snow from the side of a rivulet to its hole at some distance from it....
Its hole was examined, the foumart taken, and eleven fine eels were
discovered as the fruits of its nocturnal exertions. The marks on the
snow were found to have been made by the motions of the eels
while in the creature’s mouth.” We have no reason for doubting
Bewick, but it is certain that the polecat must have extracted the
eels from either beneath stones or mud, where, during cold weather
such as described, it is their infallible habit to retire in a semi-torpid
condition.
In trapping it use a strong gin, and set very lightly. The baits are
precisely similar to those for the weasel. Be, above all, careful to use
the naked hands as little as possible.
Welcome to our website – the perfect destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. We believe that every book holds a new world,
offering opportunities for learning, discovery, and personal growth.
That’s why we are dedicated to bringing you a diverse collection of
books, ranging from classic literature and specialized publications to
self-development guides and children's books.

More than just a book-buying platform, we strive to be a bridge

connecting you with timeless cultural and intellectual values. With an
elegant, user-friendly interface and a smart search system, you can
quickly find the books that best suit your interests. Additionally,
our special promotions and home delivery services help you save time
and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Join us on a journey of knowledge exploration, passion nurturing, and

personal growth every day!

ebookbell.com