Chapter II: Part 2

This animal in some places is called a _Cain_, and is the worst small vermin that exists, for if they approach to any warren, pheasantry or chicken-garden, they do incredible mischief, for whatever they kill they seldom eat, but only suck their blood, on which account they are more destructive and pernicious by far, than all the vermin of the ferret kind put together, as I have known one to kill a dozen fowls in a chicken-garden in the space of one night, and then let them remain behind, after having sucked out the blood at the side of the neck; but I cannot help here taking notice of a remarkable circumstance, that is almost peculiar to this subtle animal, which is, that they will start a hare from his form, and follow it by the scent, as true as the hound, till he comes up to it again; when they will slyly fasten on the side of the neck, and there hang till the hare sinks down with loss of blood, and then is left untouched by the Stoat, in regard to the flesh, and in this manner I have shot many Stoats hanging on a hare’s back, for if you should chance to be near where this happens, you will hear the hare cry, which will direct you which way the affrighted animal is coming, be then ready with your gun, and it will be next to a miracle if you miss shooting him.

In the same manner I have shot these vermin in warrens, for in going by some of the burrows, I have heard a rabbit cry under ground, which occasioned me to remain a short time by the side of the burrow, when of a sudden the rabbit has bolted out with the Stoat on its back, which I have then immediately shot dead, and by this method have killed great numbers of them.

Now in all chicken-gardens and pheasantries, two or more hutch or box traps, should always remain set under the walls or pales, baited with any small bird, rabbits or fowls guts, when the person who looks after the fowls may likewise take a proper survey of the traps, by which means they might be caught before they entered within side and did the mischief, which otherwise must necessarily ensue. Let the traps be placed on the outside, close under the walls or pales, with the back part against the same, make a wing or low paling, about eighteen inches high, with old pales, or form a small hedge, about the same height, from each end of the trap, extending four or five yards aslant, and about two or three yards open at the end from the wall, which will be a guide for them to enter into the trap, for they love to run under such places, and unless prevented in proper time, by the method here laid down, they will enter and destroy great numbers of rabbits, pheasants, and poultry, in a single night’s time; in most warrens, therefore, it is generally customary, to have traps constantly set and baited, otherwise you would soon not have any rabbits left therein. In hare-warrens, likewise, hutch or box traps should be placed in divers parts of the warren, with the two ends painted white, and rubbed over with the guts of any animal, which will prevent the hares from entering in, but allure the vermin; let them be always baited in the same manner as before observed; and if you find they likewise come to your hen-houses, use the same method, and they will naturally come into the trap and be catched, and in case you should not have a hutch trap, set a small steel trap, as before directed for the polecat, and you will be certain of securing him.

THE
WEASEL.

The Weasel is the smallest vermin of the ferret kind, and is a very noxious little animal, in many particulars resembling the stoat, last described, but is not capable, on account of its size, of doing half so much mischief, though they will destroy young hares, rabbits, and chickens, and, sucking out their blood, leave them behind; but in one instance it is extremely pernicious in chicken-gardens, hen-houses, _&c._ by sucking the eggs in great abundance; they begin by making a small hole at one end, at which they lick the yolk out, and leave the shell behind, whereas the rats, on the contrary, always drag the eggs out of the nest and carry them away, making a large hole in the egg, and sometimes break the shell in half, in order to get at the yolk, which the Weasel will not; by the above observation you will distinguish what animal has destroyed your eggs, and lay your trap accordingly. In some cases Weasels are serviceable, for they will kill mice, water rats, young house rats, but the old Norway rat they are afraid to attack, shunning him if possible with the greatest assiduity: they will likewise destroy moles, having sometimes catched them in mole traps.

When you have discovered that they have destroyed your chickens, or sucked your eggs, get a hutch or box trap, and bait it with a small bird or egg, for I have catched many by baiting with an egg, and if you should be at a loss to know at which place he enters, make some shrapes, either with sand or fine mould, as before described, and when you have discovered which way he comes, place some small steel traps, and it will be a thousand to one but what you catch him; and when you have taken any of these vermin, make an impression of their feet in some fine sand, and you will be able to distinguish them another time: and if this was strictly observed, it would be possible for you to know if even a mouse had entered your parlour or dining-room, by sifting some sand all over the bottom of the room at night, the last thing you do; then lock the door, and in the morning you will see which way they come in and out; which remark will serve for all these kind of vermin in general. I conclude my account of this creature in describing an odd method by which I have killed them, _viz._ when I have observed one run into a hedge, by standing at a proper distance from the place, and imitating the squeaking of a mouse, I have enticed the Weasel to come out to the side of the hedge, and then shot him dead, and by this method I have destroyed several of them.

THE
FERRET.

Of these animals there are two kinds or species, the white Ferret and the polecat Ferret, so called from its great resemblance to the polecat, but they are certainly two distinct animals, though by many persons imagined to be one and the same, and confounded together; and as a proof of this distinction, I have had several excellent Ferrets killed by the polecat, when turned into the rabbit burrows, wherein the polecat had taken prior possession.

Ferrets are much used by the warreners in the following manner; when the young rabbits become of a tolerable bigness or growth, they go to the holes where they have been observed, with a dog-Ferret, and turn him in with a long small line round his neck, and the other end of the line in their hands; if he goes a considerable way in, and finds no game, they draw him out again, and put him into another hole; and when they perceive by the line that he has struck at one of them, the line is gently drawn out, and he will bring the rabbit out in his mouth; the Ferret’s throat is then pressed, or squeezed close, in order that he may quit his prey, and then he is turned in again, this method the reader may practise with success, and take all the young rabbits out of their burrows, be their number never so great, but one caution is necessary to be observed, which is, not to lay the rabbits, as you take them, in the wind of the Ferret, this will baulk your sport, for if he scents or winds them, he will not keep in the ground; in the course of my practice I have tried a great number of holes, in some of which he has gone six or seven fathom in almost straight or horizontal angles, generally about three or four feet deep under the earth before he found his prey, but these are too great lengths to draw them, and would be losing too much time, but if you find the rabbits at about three fathom deep, it will answer your purpose, though you may try different angles or holes, and take your game at the nighest; the above method is what is termed drawing them with a Line-Ferret.

In the winter season, when you are endeavouring to take the rabbits, and you cannot get them to bolt or come out of their holes, the following expedient may be put into execution, in order to take great numbers of them together; make use of the Line-Ferret as before, turn him into one of the holes or angles till he finds them, but let him not remain there long enough to lay hold of the rabbits, then put him in at another, and so in like manner into all, and in the nighest angle you find them, there turn in the Ferret, and let him lie while you can sound him; what is meant by sounding is, you must listen about where you think the line goes, with your ear to the ground, and where you hear him dig a trench cross the hole, just behind the place where you sounded down to the line, then follow the line till you come to him, and in all probability you will take a great number of rabbits, and this is the reason of trying the Ferret in so many different angles before you let him lie, for by this method they are driven together, for if you was to let him lie at first, perchance you might have the trouble of digging for only a single rabbit, for they do not keep in any great degree together till driven so by the means aforesaid; but remember not to muzzle your Line-Ferret.

Another method of catching them is, by what is termed starting or bolting; to this end take the bitch or the Ferret and muzzle and use it in this manner, where there are any rabbits in burrows or at hedges, which you intend to destroy; when you first approach to the place, remember to take the wind of it, and fix a small purse-net, made for the purpose, called a Flan, in some countries, at each hole, do this as still and silent as possible, then put in the Ferrets at the lee-side of the burrow, in order that you may have the wind of the rabbits, and stand at the lee-side yourself, not making the least noise, for though many persons have a notion, that do what you will the rabbits will not start, yet this is a mistake, for if they hear a noise above ground they will fly down into their lower holes, till they can run no further, then the Ferret gets behind them and scratches them till they bleed, in which situation it is impossible for him to get before to drive them out into the net, and this is the reason I enjoin a strict silence, for then he catches them in their upper angles, on which they bolt out immediately, for they never lie in the lower ones till they are disturbed above ground; it is therefore a mistaken notion of a great many people, to hunt and drive in all the rabbits they can find before they put the Ferrets into the ground, but this method is entirely wrong, if you intend to start or bolt them, for if they are once driven to ground, it is ten to one if they move, but will lie and be scratched to death: but if you hunt them with a Line-Ferret, you will then have nothing to do but to sound your Ferret and dig them out as before directed.

I shall here beg leave to make a remark relative to a bad practice of the warreners, who make too frequent use of Ferrets, which method I entirely disapprove of; for, was I in possession of a warren, which I occupied for my livelihood, I would never put a Ferret into the ground at all, as it does a warren infinite prejudice and damage; it makes the rabbits forsake their own home, and run away, and lie out till they are killed, for they have a fixed antipathy against entering into the ground where there is the least smell of the Ferret; they have the same dislike to other vermin, and the Ferret is as bad as any of them; my own method of catching rabbits is, by nets made into pound pitches, and then you may sort them as you think proper, the best you may turn over the net and the worst you may kill; on the contrary, the Ferret has no respect to either, but will destroy the good as well as the bad.

The Ferret, as has been before observed, in many instances resembles the polecat, and if one should get away from his hutch, and get into the garden or field, if you should chance to get him again, he becomes so wild that you can scarcely venture to touch him. I have catched them at the hen-house, in a farm-yard, where they come to kill the fowls, for being set by some people to drive out the rats, they sometimes lose one, when he preys about as the polecat does; and will sometimes feed upon young rats, but as to the old ones those he does not choose to face, for I have had several good Ferrets as could be, all beat by an old rat, which they will not touch, except they are very sharp set and hungry; this experiment I have made by keeping one fasting for a day and a night, and then he killed an old fierce rat and eat him presently. This affords a useful lesson, for if you are going to make use of your Ferrets for any business, keep them fasting for some time before, they being of a very sluggish disposition, and when their bellies are full they will not hunt after any thing, or work in the least: I have often turned them into holes after rats, when, if they find a nest of young ones, they will eat them, and if sufficient to satisfy their hunger, they will hunt after no more prey, but fall asleep, for they only go in search of it to serve themselves, and when their bellies are full, you may hunt by yourself; this is the true nature of the Ferret.

In some places people employ them instead of cats, in destroying rats, when they often prove of good service, especially in under floors of any kind, and when they lie between the boards, but in ceilings and common sewers they are not so serviceable; in the first they can do no good, and in the latter they do not much care to wet their feet, except when sharp set, and then they will seize the rat, which sometimes bolts from the Ferret, and is driven into a narrow angle or corner, where being kept at bay and made desperate, he maintains a fierce combat with the Ferret, and makes him retire with his face and head terribly bitten and bloody.

THE
HEDGEHOG.

This little animal greatly resembles the porcupine, though in miniature, his body, being armed and fortified all over with small sharp-pointed quills, which is an admirable defence for him against his enemies. It has been asserted by some writers, and is a notion commonly received, that it will suck the milk of cows in the night-time, while they are asleep in the fields, and bite the dug in such manner that the cow never recovers, but this opinion I believe to be false and erroneous, having never been able, after many years strict enquiry and observance, to discover a single instance of it; their chief food consists in acorns, crabs and roots, in grubbing up of which latter they damage the ground; you may catch them by setting a hutch trap under the wall or pale of any park or warren, as these animals will run under them in the night a considerable way, having taken several of them by this method in the course of a week. I recommend it therefore as the most preferable, as few dogs will venture to kill them, their quills being so extremely sharp, and when they find they are pursued or attacked, they immediately roll themselves up round as a globe or ball, and lie as if they were dead; but put them into a puddle or pan of water, and they will expand themselves immediately. I know of no particular bait they are fond of.

THE
NORWAY RAT.

This vermin was brought originally from Norway to England, in ships trading for timber, _&c._ to that country, and being of foreign extraction, they are commonly, though erroneously, called in many places, the _Hanover_ Rat.

There are very few buildings, either in town or country, that are not troubled and pestered with them. Now you must carefully observe what part of the building they frequent; examine the sewers or shores, for they will find their way up them where there is no grate, and if there is one, they will gnaw through a soft brick, and scratch the dirt out by the side of the shore into it, and there lie dry, which often stops up and greatly detriments the shore. If there are any hog-sties, where hogs are fattening in winter time, the Rats without doors about the buildings, will repair to the sties; they are very apt to get under the floors, greatly to the damage of the houses; they will likewise get behind the wainscots, and in cielings, and make a noise that is very disagreeable to the family: it is necessary, therefore, to mind where they go in and out, for some way they must of necessity have, as they cannot remain there long without meat and water. In order therefore for the better discovery of the same, sift some sand about, and if any move, you will easily see which way they go, for this is an infallible method to betray all vermin; in the same manner, if the comparison may be allowed, as Daniel, in the apocrypha, traced the footsteps of the men, women and children, coming in at the private door, by means of sifting some ashes. In the country sometimes they will lie out in the fields and hedges, as long as any corn remains upon the ground, and breed in the most prolific manner, for I have known them frequently bring forth twelve young ones at one time; and I once caught an old female Rat, that had given suck with sixteen teats; and as a still farther proof of their fruitfulness, I have known them breed when only half grown; but in this case they have had only three or four young ones at a time. But to return, when the cold weather comes on, they flock in prodigious numbers to the houses and other buildings; they likewise repair to the barns and wheat-ricks, and sometimes I have known them take to the ricks, notwithstanding they have been placed on stands, for they will jump up on the top of the stones placed as a safeguard, with surprizing agility, which it was imagined was impossible for them to do, and get into the ricks, where they always make holes in the thatch. I have known them take to hay-ricks and get to the top of the thatch, and bite through the straw, in search of what little corn may be left in the same; so that the stacks or ricks have been obliged to be thatched again.

Having given a general description of these animals, I now proceed to point out the methods of catching them, in the various places they haunt; whether in the cellars, shores, hog-sties, barns, stables, slaughter-houses, brewhouses, still-houses, or any other place, be it what it will. When you have discovered their haunt, you must put a trap, hereafter to be described, as near the place as possible; put a small piece of stick across under each end of the trap, near the standard, to prevent it from falling down or striking, and it will remain in the same position as set, and the Rats have free liberty to go in and out at pleasure, in order to embolden them, before you set your traps in earnest to take them; then scent it, by a method hereafter to be explained, and it will not want scenting again for a twelvemonth; for it is my constant rule to scent them only once a year, which will be sufficient. Take some chaff of any kind, mix some wheat-corn with it, and put some about the bottom of the trap, this prevents them from any notion that it is a trap. If it be in a place where you cannot procure chaff, throw a handful of oats, barley, or malt about the bottom; but chaff, mixed with some kind of corn, as before observed, is preferable. You will have occasion to do this only for the first time of setting the traps to work; for when once some Rats have been catched in them, and have pissed and dunged therein, they will be in better order for it; it is a wrong practice, therefore, in many people, to wash the trap clean before they set it again; on the contrary let the dung remain in it, for this reason, that the Rat will enter with greater confidence where he finds his brethren have been before him; but if it hinders the trap from striking, or it is got under the bridge, then take it out.

Now if you perceive that they come to four or five different places, I would advise, by all means, to put a trap at each place. Some people are afraid of a little expence, and make shift with one trap only, in which case you are obliged to move your traps about, which makes them shy, and missing some of their companions renders them still shyer: mind therefore to have a trap at each place, set them all to feed at the same time, and put a little bundle of straw at each end, that they may go in and out privately; and if you cannot get any straw, shelter each end of the trap with some old boards, and keep them as private as possible, for this they like, and it will answer your intent the better. When your traps are all set, as near the places where they run as you can, you must feed them after the following manner: put some of the feed (the recipe to prepare which will be hereafter given) at their holes, scatter a little quite up to the end of the trap, and so along to the bridge within side, and there put a handful. When this is performed at each trap, you must stay two or three nights before you go to them, and you will see which trap they have eaten out of, perhaps from all of them, or possibly from only one, as sometimes they are very shy; for I have known them to eat the food prepared for them, from their holes quite up to the trap, for a week before they would enter in; but when once they have entered in, and find they are not hurt, they will then come freely enough. In the next place, when you go round to take a survey of your traps, take notice of those they have eaten out of, and put some more food in, but after the first time of feeding them, you need only put an handful on the bridge. Make it your rule to take this survey in the morning, and when you perceive they come to feed boldly and freely, then is the proper time to think of taking them; but for two or three nights previous to your catching them, when you have given them food in the morning, remember to look at the traps again at night; for if it be a quiet place they will feed by day-light, and where this happens, set those traps going in the day-time, and the rest in the evening; and as they are caught take them out of the trap, by means of a little wire cage; which is described at the end of the Rat trap struck in [pl. V.] afterwards put them into the large cage, proceed in this manner till bed-time, and then put up all your traps again, that they cannot strike, by means of a small piece of a stick laid across, under the ends, as before mentioned, and put some more food in them, for two or three nights longer, till they are become bold; then set them all again; and this may be transacted without breaking your rest in the least; but in some places where they lie in the ceilings or behind the wainscots, they are not in motion till the house is still, and the family gone to rest, and where this happens you must sit up later, and when any person has this book in his possession, by following the directions therein carefully, he may easily get the better of these vermin.

When I have been catching these vermin at any nobleman or gentleman’s house, after having been absent for some time, I have been obliged to sit up all the night, in order to keep their numbers under: but when a person is in the house or near the premises, there is no necessity of his losing his rest, or attending in so close a manner, because he may take his opportunity to catch them when he thinks proper; and on any night he fixes for that purpose; if any business should intervene, that he cannot conveniently put his design into execution, then let him give them a little food again, and they will not be baulked. Be certain to remember this piece of advice, for when the Rats come for their supper, and you have neglected to leave them any, then they will be disappointed, and obliged to go to other places in search of food: therefore when you have some at feed, mind to keep them there at the different places, to which they will come with the greatest regularity, if not baulked; so continue, still feeding them, never neglecting a single night, till you have a leisure evening, and that will encourage them to be bold and come freely. Observe the night that you set your traps going, to lay food that they cannot carry away, and put but a little on the bridge, and on each side, that you may be sure of catching what comes to feed; and if in going round to your traps two or three times, you observe one of them that has not struck, strike it yourself; for sometimes they will not go down easily, if they stand long, but set hard, then the Rats will eat the food out, and not strike the trap. Now as they are caught, go round and take them out with your small cage, and put them into the large one: in this manner I have caught seventy-two in one night’s time, though sometimes in that trap where they have fed the best, I have not caught one Rat, according to expectation. If this should happen to you be not in the least discouraged; for they will come again, and disappointment may have been occasioned by their having met with some other vermin in the way; for sometimes a weasel, stoat, or polecat, will go in and baulk your traps, as they leave a most horrible stench behind them, very disagreeable to the Rats; and in the course of my practice I have caught great numbers of the animals just before mentioned, but more particularly the polecat, all in the rat-traps; by which it is evident how naturally these vermin will follow one another, when prowling in the night after their prey; but these events, which now and then happen, ought not, in the least, to slacken your diligence; for by care and perseverance, and by following the above rules, you will soon take and destroy these terrible and subtle domestic enemies.

The following cautions are necessary in removing them from the trap to the cage: when you go round in order to survey your traps, and find one down, take the small wire cage, and put it close to the right hand end, which is the handiest method of taking them out, unless the trap stands in such a position that you cannot command that end. When you have placed the cage properly, pull that end of the trap up next your right hand, just high enough for the Rat to come out into the cage, let the candle stand down by the cage, which you must hold fast with your hand, that they may not drive it away; for sometimes when they see light, they will spring or bolt out with such velocity, that except you hold the cage tight, and close to the trap, they will drive it away, and so escape. At other times they are sulky, and will not come out if they can help it; in this case you must make a noise, and rattle against the other end of the trap; and they will soon bolt out into the cage. Another piece of advice is here necessary, for when one Rat has come out you may possibly think there are no more in the trap, and take the cage away, but be certain of this first, for I have had seven at one time in the same trap. By observing this rule you will be enabled to guard against any of them getting away, after you have been at the trouble of taking them.

I shall now give the reader a very minute and exact description of the make and construction of the trap, made use of in the foregoing instances, which, with the print annexed, will give him a full, perfect, and adequate idea of the same; it is made in the following manner: Take three boards [pl. III.] two feet two inches long, let the two sides stand on the bottom, nine inches high, by nine inches wide in the clear; then take a thick bit of wood three inches wide, and put it in the top of the trap in the centre, for the upright centre E. [pl. IV.] to go in; in the front of the trap, at the bottom, cut a hole for the trigger, half an inch wide, and three inches high, BB; line the inside of the hole with some pieces of tin about an inch wide, that they may not deface the inside of the trap, for a Rat will always gnaw and scratch wherever he sees any light; then take two pieces of board to go in even or level at each end, and under these take two short pieces, six inches high, to go in easy, nailing the top down to these at each end, and then hanging the top-pieces F F. within an inch of the end nearest the centre, they will go up and down together. In the centre, at the bottom of the trap, against the back, take a piece of wood, two inches long, and half an inch thick, make a hole in the centre of it, then put a nail through without a head, fasten it down to the bottom of the trap, and let the nail stand up half an inch; in order to hang the bridge on: then take a piece of half inch board five inches wide, and seven inches and a half long, make a hole at one end, in the centre, and at the other end put a strong bit of wire D, and let it come through the trigger-hole B B, bent and turned up at the extremity, a quarter of an inch, that it may hitch or fasten to the trigger, and over the trigger-hole about half an inch, nail a little piece of wood C, about two inches long, in order to stop the tiller, to prevent its going into the trigger-hole; let your standard E, at the top of the trap, be five inches high, with a notch in the centre, opposite the trigger-hole; let it be half an inch wide, and two inches down; then you must put a small nail at each end, to both which tie a string and bring them through the notch in the standard and tie them both together; then cut one end off, and bringing the other end down tie it to the trigger, which is the small piece of wood tied to the end of the string, in order to set the trap, which must be set up about six or seven inches high, at each end. The intent of having the under pieces but six inches high, is, that you may be enabled to take them out with the greater safety; for when you place the small wire cage at the end of the trap, then lift the end thereof level or even with the small hole at the side of the cage, and there will be sufficient room for the Rat to go into the cage very easily.

Having described the trap, I now proceed to another particular, which is, that you must put it into a large box, in order to keep other animals from eating the food prepared for the Rat, and likewise to hinder the dogs from coming to it; for sometimes, when they find a trap where the Rats come to feed, they will lie by it and baulk the Rats. This box, therefore, is a safeguard or defence for them, for when any thing disturbs them, they will run in at the holes, at each end of the bottom of the box, to save themselves, and when the ends of the trap are sheltered, they will feed quietly; if therefore your dogs should come and disturb the traps, you must baulk them, and, during your absence, mind to lock the boxes, to keep any person from them, which has always been my constant practice.

The box [pl. IV. fig. 2.] is made in this manner: three feet long, a foot and a half wide, and twenty inches high, with two small holes E, one at each end, at the back, close to the bottom of the box, about three inches diameter, or square, as you like; then the Rats can go in and out without being disturbed, and no other animal can take their food but themselves. Let the inside traps have a pound weight of sheet-lead nailed on at each end, which will make them strike quick, and keep the end down, for I have known them to get out of these traps for want of sufficient weight: and for the more effectually preventing them from getting their noses under the end and lifting them up, take a small piece of wood, an inch wide and three quarters of an inch thick, and put it across, at the bottom, in the inside, at each end, that the end of the trap may strike down flush without side. Let this piece of wood be lined with tin, that they may not gnaw it away. Let the traps be made of stout inch-fir, which is the best wood you can make use of; for that will never warp nor bend, as other wood does; but any old packing box will do for the outside. If they are not exactly made as I have already prescribed, they will answer the intent, yet if you are obliged to make new ones, they may as well be made according to the directions before given; but if it is a quiet place where you can lock the door, or in a barn, or the outside of a barn at a farm-house, the following trap may be used with great advantage and efficacy, which is the common hutch or box trap, which however must be sheltered, at each end, as before directed. This trap the reader is referred to [plate II. fig. 1.] and likewise to the description of the same, in the account of the wild cat, in page 49 of this work. And here I beg leave to give a general caution to the reader, which is, to follow the directions laid down in the preceding pages, and practise them by himself; for company will baulk the sport, and when once the traps are baulked, the blame will fall upon the author, who is not in the least in fault; for he will maintain and abide by every instruction before given, to be exactly just and true. Remember, likewise, that they are a very subtle vermin, for if they in the least suspect what you are about, you cannot catch them, for I would not have you imagine that any kind of vermin will ever enter a trap, knowing it to be one; on the contrary, you must entice and encourage them by the means before laid down, which will make them bold, and enable you to catch them with the greatest facility imaginable. Now when you have set all your traps to work, you will want to scent them, which must be performed in this manner; take twenty drops of the oil of rhodium, six or seven grains of musk, half an ounce of the oil of anniseed, put them in a small phial for use, and before you set the traps, shake them well together, then scent your traps as follows: Take a small piece of paper twisted up, dip it in the bottle, and rub each end of the trap, and put two or three drops on the bridge, and likewise the holes at each end of the box; leave the paper in each trap, and let every trap be served in this manner; the reason of mixing these three ingredients together is, that I have always tried it with success, for in some places the rats love the smell of rhodium, in others they like the smell of musk, and again, in other places, they love the smell of anniseed; on this account I mix them all together, that the scent of either one or other of the above ingredients may entice and allure them to the trap. Another piece of instruction is necessary to be given: when you first set your traps to work, different means are to be used according to the different places you are catching at; if it is at a dog-kennel, put some small pieces of boiled flesh about in the trap, as well as the feed; if in a slaughter-house, put some small bits of fat, or small pieces of guts; if in a brewhouse put some malt; if in a still-house put some of the meal; if in a mill the same; if at a barn, put in some corn as well as the feed, and so likewise in all other instances. The reason of this method of proceeding is, in whatever places your traps are set, put some of the same things in the trap as they have been before used to; for then they have not so great a notion of its being a trap: you must not use any of the scenting in the feed, for there is nothing they are so fond of in their food as the oil of carraways.

_The Recipe how to make the Food or Feed._

Take a pound of good flour, three ounces of treacle, and six drops of the oil of carraways, put them all into a bowl, and rub them well together, till it looks all alike; be sure to mix it well; then put a pound of the crumb of bread to it; for they like the bread mixt with their feed better than the feed alone, it being too luscious, for which reason they do not like it so well by itself; but that night on which you catch, put no bread to it, lest they should carry it away.

There is a necessity for your having two wire cages, one small, [pl. II. fig. 2.] used in going round your traps, in order to take the vermin out to put them into the larger one, made in the manner following:

The small wire cage must be thus constructed; let it be nine inches in length by nine wide, four inches and a half high, with a fall in it at one end and a door at the other, the first to let them in at, and the other to let them out into the great cage, which must be made as follows: Let it be twenty inches long, nine inches wide, and eight inches high, with a fall at one end, to let them in from the small cage, and a door on the top to take them out at; now when you are catching, set your great cage out of the way, at some distance, that the other Rats may not hear them squeak, for that will baulk your sport and occasion them to run away. In the morning, if you do not choose to drown them, perhaps you will want to hunt those you have taken, and know not how to take them out at the top of the great cage; but this may be done very easily; for if you do not hurt them they will not bite you; for by standing together in the trap all night they are cowed, and have not the least notion of biting, unless you should happen to squeeze them too hard; but you may take them out one by one, with your hand, very safely. Now this matter is a secret, for we always inculcate the notion that they will bite you terribly, unless you rub your hands with some kind of ingredient or other. I was once of that opinion myself, but am now better convinced; indeed when there are but four or five left behind in the trap, they are apt to be very violent and outrageous, you may then shake them out to your dog. There is a wide difference in the temper and disposition of these animals; for some are so savage and untamed, that they will set up their backs, looking very fiercely and crying out, if you do but look at them; but when you meet with one of this kind, shake him well in the cage, together with the rest, and observe when he has put his head among the others, and take him out by his tale and he will not bite you; but observe when you have first catched them do not go to handle them directly, for then they are so mad and furious that they will bite any thing.

I shall here give the reader another maxim I have often followed very successfully; if you find the holes quiet and no rats to use them, it will then be incumbent on you to stop them up in this manner, to prevent others from entering therein: Take a pint of common tar, half an ounce of pearl-ashes, an ounce of oil of vitriol, and a good handful of common salt, mix them all well together in any old deep pan; get some pieces of paper, and put some of the above mixture very thick on the paper, and place enough of this into the holes to stop them, and then let the bricklayer make good after you; and if you should find any of the holes opened again, it is certain you had not put in a sufficient quantity, then put in some more, and, if it is done as it ought, they will never approach there any more, while either smell or taste remains in it; now by stopping the holes in the shores in town, where they come up, with the above mixture, I have kept a gentleman’s house entirely clear, and never have caught one single Rat.

Now sometimes they will get in behind the wainscot and in the ceiling, in town, and not come out into the house, but remain there, and become very troublesome, and this is a very bad case: in order therefore to make them forsake these places, find out a small hole or crack, then take a handful of common salt, and put it in at the hole or crack, and pour upon the salt a spoonful or two of oil of vitriol, and this will make such a fumigation or smoke, that they cannot bear it, then stop the hole or crevice again, that the smoke may not come out, do this in two or three places, as near where you hear them as you can, and it will cause them to forsake those places. This method is very safe, as no damage can possibly ensue to the wainscot from the smoke.

I shall now point out a method to kill them, where you cannot set a trap for them: Take a quart of the same food, before made use of in taking them in traps, then rasp three figs of nux vomica, add to these a quarter of a pound of crumb of bread, mix them all well together, and this will be their certain bane; but first give them some without the nux vomica figs, for two or three succeeding nights, and when they find it agrees with them, they will then eat that mixed with the fig, with great freedom and greediness.

I am not much a friend to poisoning Rats in houses, except in cases of necessity, but if it must be done, I would by no means recommend the use of arsenic, or corrosive sublimate, which is too often practised, for then they creep into holes about the house, get between the ceilings, and other places, and there die, and occasion a very disagreeable smell; for as soon as they have taken enough of it, it is like a spark of fire in their bowels, and brings on an insatiate thirst, and they are restless and uneasy till they get at something to drink, either water, milk, or beer, and then they die immediately; from this circumstance it is evident what dangerous consequences may arise, if any person should drink any of the milk or beer, where these vermin, thus poisoned, have been slavering and drinking; but sometimes it is a difficult matter to make them swallow enough to kill them, for the moment they taste the sharp acid contained therein, it corrodes the mouth and loosens the teeth, and then they will eat no more of it, whereas the mixture of the nux vomica, before recommended, is quite different, and if even tasted by any person, no such fatal effects can happen, for there is nothing but a little bitter taste that is disagreeable; and they will take a sufficient quantity to kill them before they know it, and then they cannot get rid of it, for it throws them into fits, puts them to the greatest agony, and they die soon after; and in order to be more certain of its effects, I have kept them in a cage, and gave it them to try the experiment.

I conclude my account of the Rat with the few following particulars, which I flatter myself will prove useful; they are often very troublesome in coming up the shores, more especially in still-houses and brewhouses; now in the above instances, or in any other shores, where you cannot conveniently set a trap, I have practised the subsequent scheme with great success, which although it does not destroy them, will infallibly drive them away: When you have catched some Rats and killed them, take some white arsenic, finely powdered, put it into an old pepper-box, and shake a quantity of it on the fore parts of the dead Rats, and put them down the holes or avenues by the sides of the shores, where they come in at, which will put a stop to their coming any farther; for when they once perceive the arsenic, they will retire immediately, whereas if you was to put them down without the arsenic, the living Rats would eat the dead ones; I have seen one Rat kill another, when put into the large cage, and afterwards eat him; and once had an old she Rat, big with young, which she brought forth in the cage, and immediately eat them; for there is no kind of vermin whatever so savage as a Norway Rat; again, when you find they have taken to a rick of any sort of corn or hay, take some dead Rats, put some arsenic over them, as before observed, then place one in each hole they have made in the thatch, and it will make them all forsake the rick; in like manner you may stop some of these Rats, served as before, under the barn-floor, where the Rats use, and it will prevent others from taking shelter or harbouring under them; these vermin are likewise very fond of lying under the calve-pens, where they keep snug and warm; use the above method and it will drive them away; and also in any of their burrows, if you can put the dead Rats, prepared as above, so safe that nothing can easily get at them, and by observing these rules, you will obtain the desired effect.

THE
BLACK RAT.

This animal is the old genuine English House-Rat, no other being known in and about houses, for many ages, in this country, and differs in many particulars from the Norway Rat, last described, for they do not burrow and run into shores as the others do, but chiefly lie in the cielings and wainscots in houses, and in out-houses they lie under the ridge-tiles and behind the rafters, and run along the side-plates; but their numbers are greatly diminished to what they were formerly, not many of them being now left, for the Norway Rats always drive them out, and kill them wherever they can come at them; as a proof of which I was once exercising my employment at a gentleman’s house, and when the night came that I appointed to catch, I set all my traps going as usual, and in the lower part of the house, in the cellars, I caught the Norway Rats, but in the upper part of the house I took nothing but the black Rats; I then put them together into the great cage, to keep them alive till the morning, that the gentleman might see them, when the Norway Rats killed the black ones immediately, and devoured them in my presence.

These vermin are not near so bold, nor will feed so freely as the Norway Rat, and when you are troubled with any of them you must observe where they use, which you may do very easily, for if you go into any place and look up at the side-plates, you will perceive they will be quite black where they run along them, and likewise along the cross beams; on these cross beams place one of the traps you set for the Norway Rats, and put some of the same feed in them, but mix more bread in it than you did for the Norway Rat, and scent the trap in the same manner, and put some corn in of any sort: set a trap at each place where they use, and set them all to feed, as you do the others for the Norway Rat; and when you perceive that they come to feed boldly, then take them; but this must be done in the night, for they do not move by day-light, as the other rats will. By this method I catch them alive, but I have likewise taken them on the side-plates and beams, where they run, in wires and in snares, so that they swing off the beams; they are not near so savage as the Norway Rats, for they seldom kill any chickens or any thing of that kind, unless extremely hungry and sharp set indeed, but they are sly thieves for cheese, bacon, or any kind of eatables they can get at and pilfer.

THE
WATER RAT.