, 1888-01-07
PoAcHERs OF ENGLAND.
Who They Are and How They Ply Their
Nefarious Ayocation.


Nefarious Avocation.
Just as n liar may be something else
besides a liar, SO a poacher may be, and
usually is, something else besides a
poacher. Very commonly he calls him
self q farm laborer. Short and inter
mittent 'jobs" are what he likes best,
and he often changes his master. He
will engage himself to a farmer in order
to gain the right of going upon certain
land, and then, after n careful survey,
he will set gins where he thinks o
To be ordered to work in n field next to
q covert is what he likes best, and when
his masters back is turned he notices the
hares' u in the fence that divides the
field from the wood. At night he re-
turns to the scene of his observations and
sets q loose purse net " each run. He
then goes into the covert and walks
through the side of it next to the fence,
hen the chances are that at least a hare
or two will become entangled in his nets.
The ''innocent laborer'' type of poacher
sometimes carries a ferret and a rabbit
net in his dinner basket, and seats him
self on a hedge bank h~oneycombed with
burrows to take his midday meal, with a
result which can easily be imagined.
Cattle drovers and butchers men often
do q great deal of poaching. They are
fond of keeping greyhounds, and they
train n dog to range while the other
sneaks about in readiness to run into any
hare or rabbit that may be turned to him.
Sometimes they carry their greyhounds
in o Light spring cart, and when they see
hares feeding in q field by the roadside
they.stop and send their dogs over the
fence. These greyhounds are taught to
hunt by scent as well as by sight. A still
more favorite dog among poachers of this
sort is q lurcher, although many fear to
keep one, because his very existence is
enough to stamp his owner as a man of
doubtful character. Properly speaking,
n lurcher is the result of a cross between
q greyhound and a colly; but he is not
always a first cross, and he frequently in
herits a strain of some other breed. He
is a desperate and deadly enemy to hares
and rabbits, and he generally unites an
excellent nose and great speed with r
prising sagacity and cunning. OF all
things it is most important in a poacher's
dog that he should never give tongue.
We can remember the time when lurch-
ers' tails used to be cut to give their
owners al excuse for pretending that
they were sheep dogs. In these days,
however, sheep dogs are usually allowed
to keep their tails, SO there is no object
in docking a lurcher.
Golfers are much given to poaching in
some districts. Their favorite dog is
produced by crossing u very small grey
hound with a bull terrier or spaniel.
Sunday is their great day for poaching.
During the hours of divine service they
m fOn. yvalka in EttIa Dorsfiao of 4broa or
four, along public foot paths, and allow
their dogs to range in the fields and to
draw the hedgerows. As every magis-
trate has good reason for knowinga large
number of petty p~oaching cases depend
upon the question whether the culprit
was OF was not upon what he calls the
'%'futtpath' at the time the offense was
committed. A rat catcher and a mole
catcher have many opportunities of
poaching, and owners of shootings and
gamekeepers would do well to keep
n sharp eye upon persons following
those callings. Perhaps the worst of all
kinds Of poachers are poaching game
keepers. A keeper who hints at any
thing like sharp practice with regard to
q neighbours boundaries is never to be
trusted about his own masters interests.
We remember n keeper who was en-
ployed on an outlying shooting some
miles from home. The man had always
q good show of birds and sent a regular
supply for the table, but it turned out
that he was one of the greatest poachers
in the county, and that he had killed and
sold the neighbours game, if not his
masters, in considerable quantities.
Saturday Review.