Part 6
Now if they make hills in your fields or gardens, take notice of the places before mentioned, and set a trap in the following manner: Take a piece of board half an inch thick, four inches and a half long, by two and a half wide, then put a small hoop or bow at each end, with just room for the Mole to go through; then in the centre, at each side, put two small pegs, in order to keep them in the trap; for sometimes one that is shy, when he finds the peg before him that springs the trap, will turn out at the side and spring the trap, and not be taken: it is necessary therefore to use these small pegs, which will keep them in the straight road, placed as before directed. In the next place, get two strong horse-hairs, or pieces of small wire, then in the centre or middle of the bow, at each end, make a hole to put the hair or wire through double, then open the hair or wire just to fit, and lie close inside of the bow, like a noose, get some fine mould, make it moist like paste, and work some of it with your finger and thumb all round in the inside of the bow, so that the horse-hair or wire may not be perceivable. Through the hole in the centre of the trap let a short bit of string come. Put a forked peg tight in the hole, that may keep the string from slipping through, till the Mole, by going through, pushes it out; then the string slips up. When you have thus prepared the trap, then open one of the runs, exactly the length of the trap, and put it down in the run quite level, and make it all smooth, that there may be no light discovered. Then take three good strong hooked pegs, two on one side, and one on the other, and stick them down tight, then take a stiff stick, about four feet long, stick one end in the ground tight, bring the other end down to the trap and hitch in a loop, that comes from the hair or wire, and then it is set, and when the Mole comes he pushes out this little peg, then the string draws out, the bow-string flies up, and the Mole is caught; in the spring time, when you catch a she Mole, rub her back part about the bows and the inside of the trap, by which method I have caught eight he Moles successively; observe, when you have caught all that you perceive to move, you need only look round the outside of your fields, and keep some traps constantly going there, and they will lay hold of them as they come in and out; another expedient you may make use of, by putting some dead Moles in the runs where they come, which will prevent their coming, and keep your ground quiet and free from these trouble-vermin.
THE HOUSE-MOUSE.
These are a nasty little vermin, well known, and are very nauseous, for wherever they come, whether in the pantry or larder, you may easily discover it by the disagreeable smell they leave behind them. They are very troublesome in dairies, where they will skim the milk, and will get into bird-cages after the seed, and kill the birds; and are mischievous in other instances, of which no mention needs here to be made. Many persons would doubtless be glad to be informed of a method to kill these vermin, which is done very easily; and to accomplish it nothing is so good as nux vomica; take a quart of the feed above prescribed for the rat, before there is any bread mixed with it, then take four figs of nux vomica, and rasp them very fine, or else they will pick the feed from it, upon account of the bitter taste; rub it well together, and it will be their certain bane. My method of laying it is after this manner; if they come into the larder at night, put the bread into a pan, and take the other eatables out of the way; then lay some of the feed on a piece of paper, and do this in two or three other places, which will not be attended with any danger, however, for fear of any accident, what is not eaten take away in the morning, and at night lay it down again, and so keep on as long as any come; in the dairy do the same, or in any other place where they appear; I have found several lay dead on the paper at one time, but remember always to lay the ingredients on paper, then you may take away what is left.
THE FIELD MOUSE.
This is a larger Mouse than the former, being the largest of the Mouse kind, with a reddish back and a good deal of white under the belly. They abound in gardens, and frequently swarm in prodigious numbers in the fields: they will eat either corn or flesh just as it comes in their way. I have seen five or six of them by moon-light attack a large toad and kill it, which they do often; and when I have been trailing for a fox in the night, I have observed, by turning the light round, several of these Field-Mice following the trail. They are more difficult to destroy than the house-mice, on account that they are shy in taking any bait; however, sometimes, when I have been going to catch a fox, I have been sometimes obliged to put some of the feed (so often before mentioned) in the shrape, in order to kill the Mice, before I could get any to lie for the fox. In winter they will likewise come into houses at the sink-holes, and get into the pantries, larders and dairies, being driven from the fields by extremity of hunger, and prove very troublesome and pernicious; and in spring they will get into the gardens, and eat whole rows or drills of peas, after they are set: I can give no better method to destroy these vermin, than to lay some of the above feed for them, as you do for the other, on a tile, and shelter it with some pieces of old boards that it may not get wet: lay it out at night and take it in again in the morning, and all that eat of it will certainly die.
THE RED SHREW-MOUSE.
This species of the Mouse-kind has a nose like a mole, and is in general a very harmless, inoffensive little animal, in regard to its preying on any thing: it is much smaller than the house-mouse. The chief mischief done by these vermin is, that in harvest-time they will come home with the corn, remain there and breed. I have known great numbers taken out of a rick; and I once remember half a bushel of these and other Mice caught at one time out of a rick or stand, which is often owing to the farmer’s own negligence and inattention; for you may often see a rick-stand made a nursery, occasioned by putting under it harrows, ploughs, hurdles and props: what avails it then to have a stand to fill the ricks in this manner, and assist the vermin up? You cannot indeed prevent their coming home with the corn, or when rats hop up and down the stand, which they do very easily: the best method, therefore, would be to nail some tin to the props, which would keep the Mice from getting up them; and when once you find they have got to a corn-rick, the best way is to take it in as soon as you can, for these Mice, in one particular, are worse than the rats among the corn, and do a great deal more mischief; for this reason, that they will live a great while without water, only by licking the ends of the straws, while any moisture remains therein, and all the while they remain in the ricks they do infinite prejudice. If it is not convenient to remove the rick, observe the following method; take a quarter of a pound of the best nux vomica, put it into an old saucepan, with three quarts of water, boil it till it comes to two quarts, and put two pounds of treacle to it, in order to overcome the bitter taste of the nux vomica; then take some small earthen pans, into which pour some of this mixture, and set the pans in different places under the eaves of the ricks; the Mice being in want of water, will greedily drink of the mixture, which will kill them; and this method you must continue till they are destroyed.
Before I conclude this account, I cannot help taking notice of a gross blunder, which a certain writer has made in his description of this little vermin, who asserts that it is as large as a rat, of the colour of a weasel, and very mischievous to cattle, and that it will get upon a beast’s back, and make it lame in the chine; and in consequence of the bite, the beast will swell to the heart and die; all which particulars are entirely erroneous; for its size is less than that of the common house-mouse, its colour like the squirrel; and as to the miraculous affair of its killing any beast or cattle, it is of a piece with the rest. On the contrary, I am convinced from long observation, that it feeds on roots, vegetables, and corn, and will not touch flesh on any account.
THE BLACK SHREW-MOUSE.
This animal has a nose like a mole, and much resembles the red shrew-mouse, last described, except in colour; they are very harmless little creatures, for they seldom come to barns or ricks, their residence being amongst the grass, by the sides of ditches which they feed on. You may often hear them as you are walking along, squeaking by the path’s side, and making a noise something like the grasshopper; but they do not the least mischief that I know of; I thought proper however to mention them, that the reader might know that such a little animal really exists.
THE GRASS MOUSE.
This Mouse is rather larger than the common Mouse, with a muff-head like a water rat, and a short club tail, looking as if the top was cut off, and has a great deal of the nature and disposition of that animal, for it eats no corn at all, but lives on grass and vegetables; being of a very harmless nature, it is a prey to other vermin, as the water rat is, (such as stoats and weasels) which are the worst enemies it has.
THE DORMOUSE.
This is a small red Mouse, with a tail like a squirrel, and is the most harmless and inoffensive of all the mouse-tribe. It is a very beautiful tame little animal, and is kept by many persons in small boxes or cages, and fed with crumbs of bread, _&c._ They have one singular and peculiar quality, which is that of sleeping for several weeks together, without receiving the least sustenance, and appearing all the while as if dead. You may oftentimes find them in dry banks, or in wood, laid up very warm in a nest, in the ground, made with oak-leaves, and always asleep when you discover them.
THE BAT.
This little animal is half mouse, half bird, having wings something resembling leather, and a head very much like that of the mouse, except that their nose is flatter, and their mouth wider; they keep close in holes all the day and never fly abroad till the evening, and that in the summer time, for which reason they are called in many places, the winged mouse; they live chiefly on flies and other small insects, and dwell in holes under the roofs of houses, churches, barns, old ruinated buildings, and in the holes of hollow trees, where in winter time I have sometimes found several scores of them closely adhering together, in large clusters, and in a torpid state, in which condition they doubtless remain till vivified again by the enlivening warmth of the sun, on the approach of the summer. I have been the more particular in my account and description of the different kinds of Mice, as perhaps many of my readers might be unacquainted, that there are so many distinct species of the mouse-kind.
THE LARGE BLACK EAGLE BUZZARD.
Having finished my account of the four-footed vermin, I now come to describe the winged-tribe of vermin, inhabitants of the air, which, notwithstanding, often descend to earth, and do much mischief; I shall begin with the Black Eagle-Buzzard, which is one of the largest and fiercest birds of the hawk kind, that breeds in England.
This bird frequents parks and warrens, and often catches leverets, young rabbits and pheasants, or any thing else that moves, as soon as the morning light approaches, for they are a very early bird; in winter time I have caught them in a steel trap, the same as is set in a cube for a dog; bait it with the guts of rabbits or fowls, or some pieces of rabbits that you find dead by accident; in spring I have caught them in steel traps, with the skin of a young rabbit stuffed and tied to the bridge, but after the young rabbits begin to be able to run about, they sometimes are shy and will not strike at a rabbit, unless they see him run; the steel traps that you set for this vermin should strike seven or eight inches high, in order to clear the bait as it ought to be, otherwise the jaws might only catch the bait, and miss the vermin; I have sometimes caught them with a rat in the following manner: set two traps in the manner as you see in plate VI. fig. 1. head to head, covered very nicely with moss, then round the circle as in the same plate, put some small pieces of fern, or a bush or two, quite low, that the bait may be visible and open; put the bait, whatever it may be, in the middle, between the two traps, then he must of necessity go over one of them, in order to get the bait, and by this means I have often caught him. Sometimes you may observe him to haunt a place in a warren or park for a week or fortnight together, then set your traps in the same method as before laid down, and you will be almost certain of taking him. Let your bait be a dead rat, if you can procure one.
THE GREY BOB-TAILED BUZZARD, OR PUTTOCK.
This bird is much of the same nature as the former, in haunting parks and warrens, for the destruction of rabbits and pheasants, going in search of them when the morning light appears. In this respect, however, it differs from the Eagle-Buzzard, that it is smaller. You may catch them with the steel trap above described, baited with the entrails of fowls or rabbits, or with some of the pieces of rabbits which may have been accidentally killed. They are to be caught easiest in winter time, for then I have known them haunt one place for a month together, in a warren, where you may easily catch them, as at that season they are short and destitute of food.
THE LARGE FORKED TAIL KITE.
This is the largest and heaviest bird of the hawk kind in England, but not near so fierce as the Eagle-Buzzard, being rather of a sluggish and indolent disposition, not caring much to hunt after prey; but when the other kites and hawks have killed any birds, they come upon them, and beat them away, and then devour the birds themselves; they chiefly dwell in woods and desart places, and frequent the sides of rivers and brooks, being fond of fish, and often eat the tails of the fish, which the otters have left behind them. You may catch them by setting two traps, in the same manner as you do for the buzzard; bait them with a piece of fish, if you have it, or with a rat, or the guts of fowls or rabbits, and when once you discover the places they haunt, you may catch them with the greatest facility.
THE LARGE BLUE SHERARD KITE.
This kind of Kite frequents forests, heaths, and other lonesome places, but especially bogs and marshy grounds, where they destroy great numbers of snipes, to which they are the worst enemy of any bird of prey of the hawk kind; they beat all over the bog with the greatest regularity and exactness, till they find them lying: for the nature of the snipe is, if they perceive their enemy in the pursuit, they lie as close to the ground as possible, when the Kite pounces upon them directly and takes them: I have observed one of these vermin beating at one end of a bog or marshy piece of ground; and at the other end I have stooped down till he has come up close to the place where I was, he looking stedfastly down for his prey, regardless of any thing else; and when he came near enough I have shot him; sometimes they will have a beat cross a warren, where I have caught them in traps, baited with what is termed a stall, which is a young rabbit-skin stuffed.
These vermin are very remarkable for one particular circumstance, for at any time when you observe any of them come along in the morning, you will be certain of seeing them return the same way back again in the afternoon, and three or four succeeding mornings they will have the same beat, if they are not frightened or disturbed; whenever, therefore, you see one go along in the morning, get a trap set ready against his return, baited with a rabbit’s skin stuffed and put on the bridge of the trap, as before directed, but remember to cover the trap nicely with moss; if you set it in a green sward, then cover it with grass, and in this manner I have often taken them; I have likewise caught them by means of two steel traps, set in the same manner as for the buzzard; but always mind when you set traps in this manner, to fasten down the bait between them with a peg, otherwise they will frequently take it away, and not strike the trap; but when the bait is fixed they cannot get it away, but are constrained to stop, when by hopping and picking about, they spring the trap and are caught.
THE BLUE SHERARD HAWK.
This bird, in many respects, resembles the blue kite last described, in haunting heaths, forests, and lonely places; especially quags and marshy grounds, doing much mischief, particularly among the snipes. You will always be sure of seeing him return home by the same path, in the afternoon, by which he pursued his flight in the morning, but he is not so large, and preys in much the same manner, but does not, however, frequent warrens so often as the other; you may catch them by the same method as the Sherard Kite, with a rabbit’s skin stuffed and put on the bridge of the trap, remembering to cover the trap nicely with moss or grass, observing the directions before given.
THE LARGE BROWN, WHITE ARSE, RING-TAILED HAWK,
Is the most pernicious and mischievous Hawk that flies; but especially in destroying that admired game the partridge, which it takes, not so much by swift flying, as by the following manner or stratagem: viz. when they find a covey and spring them, they fly after them as fast as they are able, and mark where they pitch down again, and then spring them again; and thus keep following them till they catch their prey; for partridges, when they are driven hard for three flights, become so tired and languid that they are easily taken; I have sometimes observed one of these Hawks in full pursuit after a poor partridge, almost spent, when the Hawk has suddenly stopped, and alighted on a tree in the next hedge, to which I imagined the partridge had taken, as they frequently do, when they are almost tired or down. On this I got near enough the Hawk, being intent and earnest after his prey, shot him dead, and on examining, to my great surprize, found that the partridge, being driven by the Hawk, had taken refuge in a hutchtrap, that stood on the other side of the hedge, where the Hawk had marked it, and sat watching for its coming out again; these vermin will keep their walk or beat for some time very regularly. I have caught them in a trap, baited with a rabbit-skin stuffed, as before observed.
THE SMALL RING-TAILED HAWK
Is the largest of the Sparrow-Hawk kind, and is a very fierce and pernicious bird, destroying young ducks and chickens, in yards, &c. about farm-houses, in the fields, they kill black-birds, thrushes, and in the winter-season fieldfares and other small birds; I have driven one from a blackbird, and immediately set down a steel trap, covered quite smoothly, placing the same bird on the bridge of the trap, and have taken the Hawk, which returned soon after for its prey. They will likewise frequently come to the chicken-gardens and pheasantries, when you must set a steel trap, baited with a dead chicken or any other of the birds before mentioned; which they delight to feed on, and in all probability you will lay hold of them, and if you find they have been made shy, by reason of the trap striking and not catching them, which will sometimes, though very rarely, happen, you may destroy them after the following manner: take a live chicken, tie it to a small stake drove in the ground, by one of its legs, laying some bread or corn for it to feed on; then get out of sight, with your gun, and the hawk will come and strike at the chicken, when you may easily shoot him, and this method I have often practised with good success.
THE SMALL SPARROW HAWK.
Birds which fly wild in the fields, are the chief prey of this little Hawk. It very seldom destroys chickens, or any other kind of poultry, unless driven by the greatest extremity of hunger; I have driven them from a bird, and caught them in a steel trap as I have the others, having been allowed so much per head for all the winged vermin, as well as others that I destroyed, which made me very anxious and assiduous in trying and inventing various methods to destroy them.
THE SMALL BLACK-HEADED SPARROW-HAWK.
I never caught this Hawk in a trap, but have shot several of them; it is a very beautiful bird, and has a black head, with pointed wings, and is very quick and sharp after its prey, which are small birds of every kind. It is more timid than the last mentioned Hawk, and is seldom seen, there being but few of them in England. On which account we need not dwell minutely upon him.
THE WIND-HOVER HAWK.