THE
FOX.
I shall first begin with old Reynard the Fox, for he is the king of the vermin in this island; wolves indeed formerly abounded here, an animal infinitely more fierce and dangerous than the former, but these for many ages have been entirely extirpated.
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 than 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. It may be necessary here to explain what is meant by the above term; when the female rabbit is ready to kindle, she digs an hole, or angle, about four feet long, and about ten or twelve inches under ground, and when she goes out for food, she scratches the earth over the mouth of the hole, or stop, so that it is scarcely perceptible to the eye, in order for the preservation of her young ones from any approaching enemy; in the night, the Fox being in search of his prey, comes to the place where these stops are made and scents the young rabbits, but instead of entering therein, he follows the scent above ground till he comes to the end of the angle, and then scratching up the earth comes immediately upon the young, which he devours; and this is called crowning on them.
It is very difficult to guard against the approaches of this enemy, his motions being so uncertain, unless a trap was constantly placed, for sometimes he will destroy several lambs and poultry in the night at farm-houses, and not come near the same place again for a considerable time, shifting his quarters to other places considerably remote in search of fresh plunder; but in large parks where hares and pheasants are constantly kept in great numbers, there is a greater probability of taking him in the following manner:
The method to know where and which way he comes, is to make what is termed a shrape, which is done by drawing a circle[[1]] on the ground, in the park or warren, about three feet diameter, take the mould out all over, four inches deep, then take a sieve and sift a sufficient quantity of fine mould to fill it up again even to the surface, dig six of these in various parts of the park, and fill them up in the same manner. 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.
[1]. See letter A. plate 1. fig. 1.
The next step to be taken is to procure a sheep’s paunch; tie a string to it, and draw it to each shrape, before described, but remember at the distance of two or three hundred yards to rub the bottom of your shoes on the paunch, which will prevent him from discovering the smell of your feet, and at every shrape lay some pieces of strong old Cheshire cheese, and come again in the morning, when you will plainly perceive whether his behaviour is shy or not; for he will sometimes eat all the cheese he can reach, without entering on the shrape; the next night he will venture somewhat further, and set his feet so lightly on the mould that you can scarcely discern their print: I have sometimes fed a shy Fox for a whole week before I have set a trap for him, but when he comes to feed boldly he will trample all over the shrape and make prints an inch deep, and in that shrape, where he seems to feed the freest, I would advise to place two traps, and, without any particular accident, if he comes, you will be sure of catching him.
Set your traps after the following manner: take some mould out, just sufficient for the traps to lie in; and when properly placed, get some moss, and with a small stick, put some of it under the bridge, and likewise between the bridge and the jaw, and lay it quite smooth; now the reason of having the above stick is, that in case you should spring the trap, it will not injure you in the least, but only catches the end of the stick. The next particular you must observe is, to procure a thin piece of board, a foot in length, two inches wide at one end, and cut away at the other to hold them by; then with this board strike some mould or earth over the trap, entirely level with the other parts of the shrape; this board is absolutely necessary in order to prevent your handling the mould, for if he is in the least shy, he will not approach the shrape if you once handle it; another caution is likewise necessary, which is, not to let the bridges of your traps be too wide, for a Fox had better come and put his foot in between the bridge and the jaw of the trap, and not spring it at all, for in that case he will come again, as he has not been baulked, but when the bridge is too wide, if he happens to set his foot on the jaw, then his toe nails reach the bridge, and spring the trap without catching him, which will render him shy, and it will be a very difficult matter afterwards to get him at all.
But in order to prevent any such disappointment, I would advise that your steel traps for the Fox should be square in the jaw, and not round as the common traps are usually made, and strike but five inches high, and seven inches long in the jaw, with saw-teeth[[2]], and let the tail[[3]] of the trap be two feet from the tail end[[4]] of the spring, for they are generally made too short, from whence this inconvenience arises, that when a trap stands for some time, in warrens or parks, the spring gives out, the purchase being so quick, whereas, were the traps formed on the principle above laid down, the spring would remain for a considerable time without giving way; and lastly, let the [[5]]bridge of the trap be four inches square.