Cribb was altogether about eleven weeks under training, but he remained only nine weeks at Ury. Besides his regular exercise, he was occasionally employed in sparring at Stonehaven, where he gave lessons in the pugilistic art. He was not allowed much rest, but was constantly occupied in some active employment. He enjoyed good spirits, being at the time fully convinced that he would beat his antagonist. He was managed, however, with great address, and the result corresponded with the wishes of his friends.—Sporting Repository.
Trap, s. A snare set for thieves or vermin; an ambush, a stratagem to betray or catch unawares; a play at which a ball is driven with a stick.
I place my trap a few yards to the right or the left of the partridge’s nest (so that it may not catch the parent bird) but plainly in view, so that when the magpie approaches it cannot fail to see the bait. As magpies are fond of eggs, nothing can form a better bait (particularly in the breeding season) than a hen’s egg, which should be perforated at each end, the contents blown out, and a small twig run through it into the ground, in order to give the magpie some trouble to get it off; and while it is endeavouring to pull it away, its feet should be on the bridge of the trap, the bait being placed at the requisite distance for that purpose. The plunderer is sure to be caught. The mere shell of the egg answers better for the purpose of a bait than if it contained its original contents, and it is thus more easily fastened to the requisite spot. I repeat, that the square is much preferable to the semicircular trap, as the latter is more apt to miss the thief, owing to its form.
If an egg be not at hand, or easily obtained, a piece of raw meat will answer the purpose, and will form a good bait:—a magpie is not very particular in its food.
If the kite or the buzzard be the object of consideration, the trap should be placed precisely in the same manner, but the bait should be a pigeon, a small rabbit, (or a piece of either) or any of the smaller kind of birds, or a piece of raw meat or liver will answer the purpose. The bait should be fastened, and if a few feathers are scattered about, it will be more easily perceived by these birds—they will discern it indeed at a great distance.—Kites and buzzards, though very mischievous, are few in number, and do not approach the human habitation with the same familiarity as the magpie or the crow. They are fond of being able to see a great distance around them, as if to prevent surprise; and for this reason they may be often seen, when they alight on the ground, to take their station on some hillock or eminence, on downs or other open places, whence they can survey the surrounding country. Wherever it is perceived that these birds frequent or haunt, the traps should of course be placed. Let it be further understood, that the application of these remarks is not intended to be confined to the breeding season. Whenever vermin, of any kind, are discovered, they should be trapped or destroyed—there is no mode so certain as the steel trap, when properly prepared and set.
The sparrow hawk, the hobby, &c., require a smaller trap than the kite or the buzzard, which is, however, to be prepared and placed in the same manner, and baited with a sparrow, lark, or other small bird (excepting the swallow tribe, which birds of prey refuse) and a few of its feathers scattered about for the purpose of attracting the object to be caught.
In regard to the quadrupedal vermin, and first of all for the polecat, it may be remarked, that when this animal is suspected of making free with the eggs of the pheasant or the partridge, the trap may be prepared for him precisely in the same manner as already described for the magpie, and he is sure to be caught; or should the track to his hole be discovered, he may be taken by placing the trap in it, close to the hole, (covered in all cases, as the most certain means of success,) with or without the bait, but the latter mode is preferable; or the deception may be placed a little out of his track; and perhaps half a yard out of his track is the better method. This animal is attracted by the smell of musk, and therefore the bait may be anointed with a little of the essence of this strong perfume: but it will answer the purpose without it; and the only effect, in fact, that it has, is merely enabling the polecat to smell or scent the bait at a greater distance. A trap placed at the entrance of the hole of the polecat, without a bait, will take him, if covered in the manner described in the preceding pages; but if not concealed, its effective operation will be very uncertain; with a rat it would fail: if the trap were so placed that the rat could not miss it in coming out, he would form another hole to avoid it, when the calls of hunger compelled him to leave his hiding place. The bait for a polecat should be a rat, a mouse, a bird, entrails, or indeed almost any animal substance will answer the purpose.—And what I have stated respecting the polecat is equally applicable to the stoat, and to all the weasel tribe.
The cat, as I have previously stated in a separate article, is very destructive to game; for which nothing is a more tempting bait than a sparrow, lark, &c., and, as these animals are attracted by valerian, the bait may be rubbed with it if convenient; but it is not absolutely necessary, as a cat is easily caught without that addition. Valerian may, as well as musk, be obtained at any druggist’s shop. It will be requisite, of course, to set a larger trap for a cat than that which is used for a weasel or a magpie.
The caution of rats in approaching a trap is very well known, and, in fact, those who attempt to take them in the common way uniformly fail; an odd one may perhaps be caught (and that not often) and the business ends. But when the trap is concealed in a proper manner, the rats are sure to be caught.—Gamekeeper’s Directory.
Trap, v. To ensnare, to catch by a snare or ambush; to decorate.