The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1908-04-02
POACHING STYLE
MORE SCIENTIFIC
Net and Lantern Succeeded
by Electric Torch and
Bicycle.

As years pass on, poaching, like every
thing else. becomes more scientific.
The old hempen net which the moucher
used TO hang across a field gate at night
for hares has given place to one silken
cord, and the cheap bull s-eye lantern
70 more costly but more handy electric
torch.
Perhaps the most dangerous improve
ment, from the game preserver's point
OF view. is the substitution of the motor
bicycle or motor car for the old-fash-
Toned one-horse trap. 1t might be mag
ined that the motor bicycle would be
Of little use for carrying game. says
Chambers Journal, but only the other
day a motor cyclist was arrested near
a Midland town with FIVE newly killed
hares In a box behind the seat.
Partisan papers tell Of well organized
gangs who raid the coverts near the
French capital by the aid Of apparatus
worth hundreds OF pounds. who have re-
lief funds for those injured I'm ARRAYS,
and who retain lawyers to defend those
captured by keepers Happily. this sort
Of thing is still unknown in England.
Not unnaturally, the pheasant stands
AT the head OF the poacher's list II
poacher can be sure of a quiet haNf-hour
IN the covert. he slips in. sets net
across run. sends his lurcher sinking
around through the underground, ana
presently. with a fiutter and a nop,
fine cock bird is fast In the net, next
moment 20 be transferred TO the pOach-
err pocket
A method OF taking pheasants which
was more common a few years ago than
IL is now was that Of smoking The
first essential Is to discover a tree
where the birds roost. Then, upon a
dark. still night. the DOacher goes 10
the spot armed with handful OF sui
rhur and the lid OF an old biscuit box.
4 fire Of dry leaves is Hgl ed upon
the lid the illumination being carefully
concealed by a coat hung around IT. AS
sOCn as the leaves have biazed up the
sulphur is flung on the flames, and the
lilo held up under the bOugh on which
the pheaSants are rOOSung- soon the
SuffOcating fumes take effect. With a
rustic and thump a fat bird thuds upon
the ground. one after another they
drop, and with luck the pOacher may
ger half a dozen from a single tree
Another favorite plan is TO soak barley
or wheat for some hours in warm water.
When the grain is thoroughly sCftencd
the water is strained off and strong
spirit poured over the wheat The
swollen grains absorb the spirit, and the
dOctored bait is then spread in ono of
the Siades where the birds feed
Al is an odd fact that most birds seem
Ception. The not unnatural result l.
that the finest birds-those which have
secured che lions share of the feast
are soon reeling about helplesslv drunk.
The poacher, who has been lying dog
&C. near by. has nothing to do bat jump
I'D and wiring their necks-
Another method Of the pheasant
poachcr deserves mention for its very
ingenuity II owes its success 10 the
wel.-knOwn pugnacity of our finest game
bird. A Eamecock is armed with steel
spurs Of great length and keenness and
dropped where a pheasant has been OBJ
served to crow. The pheasant viii allow
no rival within its domain and presently
comes strutting out Of covert
Naturally. he stands TO more chance
than a man armed with a paper knife
would against a Western desperate with
The pOacher picks I'd the dead bird,
catches his EameCoch, and moves on in
search of fresh victims.
An Old-fashioned way OF catching
rocks when they become too numerous
20 suit the farmer was to bury in The
plOw land little conical bags Of paper
the sides smeared with bird lime and a
bait at the bottom. The same plan has
been adopted with considerable success
for the capture Of pheasants. The bait
Is barley. and the bird, completely Bind
ed by the cap which clings so tightly
10 its head falls an easy victim 10 man
or dog.
In an open field you will often see
small pieces Of brushWOOd stuck into
the ground at intervals These are SET
by the keeper for the purpose Of hook
ing uD the nets Of night pOachers for
pdrtridges- Partridges roost upon the
ground. and by means Of a long, light
net dragged across the grass by two
men a whole cOvey is often captured AT
one SwOOp.-ENChange