The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-31
EXCITEMENT OF POACHING.
THB DANGER BRAVED IN nITCIT
SPORT IN ENGLAND.


"Weasel'sn Career and His stealthy
Methods OF Securing Game at Night.
mo one who has never experienced IL can
have any idea Of the fascination there is In the
life OF an English poacher, attended though -
lie by the greatest peril and hardship. and the
constant fear Of detection. arrest and impriaon-
ment." said an old resident whose early years
were spent among rural scenes in England.
"Poaching is now looked upon, even by those
whose fathers were wont to shoot over the
'sduire's' lands without an invitation or the
formality OF a license. as a calling ut only for
ne'er-do-wells and social outcasts generally (;
but forty years ago It was practiced by repu-
table young farmers and others who could not
hope to be included in the list Of gentlemen
sportsmen,' who annually had the run OF
the woods. streams and moors. I have in
my mind now a very worthy and well-to-do
farmer In my native county. whose competence
came from his successful nocturnal Visits to the
game and fish preserves that abounded In his
vicinity. In those days. however. tho game
laws were not what they are now and poachinG
was not prohibited under such severe penalties
as It Ia to-day. In fact. the present game laws
Of England took away from poaching certain
traditions OF romance that surrounded It:
charged IL from being q channel through which
the love Of field sport that is Unborn In every
AAhh OlCuoIC Oulu US bdJlbHSu luUO u ChllluB
OF reproach and placed every ono who followed
It below tho common thief on tho criminal
calendar.
No offenders against the British law are
punished so severely az the poacher. Tho
fields and the woods of all England are now
overrun with game. Hares are as plentiful as
flies almost, while partridges. pheasants and
the like are 30 numerous as to be In some
places actual pests. Yet they are not for the
laoorer. or the %ploughman, or the rustic Of low
degree. Should some poor cottaRer, with
larder lean and pocket empty. steal out at
niRhtfall to a spot where he knew hares were
feeding. and. making his way through a field
gate or through some we'll known opening in
the hedge. fire and kill a single hare. he makes
himself liable to prosecution for trespass, for
carrying a gun without q license. and for hav-
Ing game In his possession unlawfully. II it
should happen that he is near the highway
when the shot is fred. he is also liable to be
prosecuted on the charge OF firing a gun in
proximity to the public road. II he is arrested
there is no escape from long imprisonment in
the Jail.
II is this stigma that has turned poachinR
over to the moral ~delinquents Of the parish,
although the amateur poacher' is stil to be
found In every observation-disclosures sport-lov-
ing rustic Of good name and standing, from
whom the rigor OF the law and tho disgrace
that would follow detection have failed to drive
the fascination of n night spent among the rab-
bit runs and hare paths. The amateur poacher
ia an eager spirit and he argues that a law
which declares that the love OF adventure In
the, field and a Renius for woodcraft are GRIM
tnal when possessed by those unfavored by
birth or fortune, is a law against a higher law
o. nature. and one against which, 1t is no crime
The regular professional poacher Is neces-
I remember a apoAchSerr Who was s9't the h HS Of my
6 99t1ts but S11t"EEe &c was sif neT Teel ca ne%G sn TsS 51P Pss
He could turn his hand to anything gin IN tie line
OF field o rforest sport. He knew every by-path.
around ereuy fed f. S eponld fmi fitSEy t tbe eaIi Of I9 anT m bies
that lived in the woods. his dog Trusty. a vel.
low, low. and I'd P h.dT,i mongrel: he Ind trimmed so well
gun. which he could separate into a dozen
pieces and carry in the capacious pockets Of his
."Many,a time have I stolen away from home
t TnGa q tr aaa snS over sSih the } ssu Tsss %e If so a9si
R Riset ris SSrt l. f ss"F t fhf t Pe4sh the s Rhsas" fSs
fields to feed; Like, a shadow he would steal
strips Of beaten footppths that led By short cuts
away from the turnpiae' In the latter PedSs-
be among them. BY these footpaths he could
trayel, as silently as the animal for which he
Az. lad,' the Weasel has often said to me.
as I trudged by his side. hall, frightened at the
wariness, but bound by the fascination OF it ali.
.ut's the edge rows. n the roonin' water. N
the deep detches as STAINS rs andy for 'idin'
The Weasel always sought for hiding place
ERSe niSGt. e Tsis w to Sc sst.t mat tRR9 t5Se IN cS2 ESyT for for
never move during the night from the spot they
haze settled sttlS1 on EG Then; no matter how dark The
s HlGGs R@' e. the es SPOT Saf he f SaG seiec tee W Spd se wals
Another f~avorlte spot Of the Weasel was
Of a wood skirtipg a meadow, On the other
side, Of the meadow the land rose gradually
t Sassa i Of ' the den q TSuG srS9t Ri'' f fRRSeffG ss T mtde t r
ths syn ssaSE SsSlnd tths 6iEl itSsT began A T. ap p
the Hss u hiass G snd FED sSTr and n sp e5TFsf e i5S@
ants would begin to rice and enter the frs,
and by the time, darkness closed in on the
scene Tsa they were all settled T among the branches.
were distinct enough to the Weasel, and. when
all was still in quick succession the reports OF
and and s distInss as the 81 rep9rtff i RiaS .a an eSRei "a ' ond
TepeHUSu LIE tOuIu. his was one OF the rea-
sons why the spot was favored by the Weasel,
as he said no Ramekeeper could possibly tell
where the gun was fired. because OF the echoes
that carried the sound In all directions. The
two shots OF the poacher meant that two hares
were lying dead in the field. These found and
bagged, he would enter the grove Of frs,
darkness that my eyes could not penetrate. but
the Weasel saw on every branch n crouchlng
from its roost, but II IT is touched by anything
1t will 1utter away Up the darkness. beginning
with the bottom bird In the tree, so that In fall
ing I. would not disturb the rest. the Weasel
would shoot them one after another from their
canncity OF that great coat Of his for storing
hare. partridge after, partridge. pheasant after
pheasant. were swallowed up In the mysteri-
GUS pockets and linings OF the coat, and yet
there. was always room for more.
Then. later on In tho night. there were nets
to take up In out-of-the-way spots, and snares
to loo ~. Aft to- and =. renew Rsv Then, maybe. there
TO. the mere, hemmed. in by osiers. long un>
trimmed. and haunted by coots and, moor hens,
hooks. Whore would be q half honr,s temntine