Page:The Hare.djvu/100

78 set in a hedge, the wire noose is smaller than if it was set in the open field; the reason is that the feet of the animal push the snare up if it is creeping through a hole. Poachers commonly measure the height of a snare with the hand, elevating it to the level of the thumb raised at right angles to the palm. The snare is made of different qualities of wire; very thin wire is apt to snap in frosty weather. A single strand of wire would be useless. From six to eight strands of wire are generally considered to suffice. The wire is plaited in strands by various methods. One of the handiest for a poacher is to attach a long piece of wire to the 'missis's' kettle handle, and twirl the kettle round and round, when, of course, it binds the wire together. The wires take up very little room in the operator's pocket. Nor is it difficult to peg the snare firmly down. The poacher has to study the most rapid methods of action, for he may at any time have to pick up a snared hare and run for it. He cannot stop to untie difficult knots, and consequently he fixes it with the 'timber-hitch,' or some similar device.

Any schoolboy could set a snare. But to manipulate snares successfully, the poacher must serve his apprenticeship in the green fields, or he would never know where to choose the spot. The trained eye searches for what is termed the 'trod' of the hare,