[3] Of the Persian or Grecian greyhound type perhaps. See Aristot. "H.
A." viii. 28; Aelian, "N. A." viii. 1; Pollux, v. 37, 38, 43;
Plin. "H. N." vii. 2, viii. 28; Oppian, "Cyn." i. 413.
Quite young fawns[4] should be captured in spring, that being the season at which the dams calve.[5] Some one should go beforehand into the rank meadowlands[6] and reconnoitre where the hinds are congregated, and wherever that may be, the master of the hounds will set off-with his hounds and a supply of javelins-before daylight to the place in question. Here he will attach the hounds to trees[7] some distance off, for fear of their barking,[8] when they catch sight of the deer. That done he will choose a specular point himself and keep a sharp look-out.[9] As day breaks he will espy the hinds leading their fawns to the places where they will lay them severally to rest.[10] Having made them lie down and suckled them, they will cast anxious glances this way and that to see that no one watches them; and then they will severally withdraw to the side opposite and mount guard, each over her own offspring. The huntsman, who has seen it all,[11] will loose the dogs, and with javelins in hand himself advance towards the nearest fawn in the direction of where he saw it laid to rest; carefully noting the lie of the land,[12] for fear of making some mistake; since the place itself will present a very different aspect on approach from what it looked like at a distance.
[4] See above, v. 14. I do not know that any one has answered
Schneider's question: Quidni sensum eundem servavit homo
religiosus in hinnulis?
[5] "The fawns (of the roe deer) are born in the spring, usually early
in May," Lydekker, "R. N. H." ii. p. 383; of the red deer
"generally in the early part of June," ib. 346.
[6] {orgadas} = "gagnages," du Fouilloux, "Comment le veneur doit
aller en queste aux taillis ou gaignages pour voir le cerf a
veue," ap. Talbot, op. cit. i. p. 331.
[7] Or, "off the wood."
[8] It seems they were not trained to restrain themselves.
[9] Or, "set himself to observe from some higher place." Cf. Aristoph.
"Wasps," 361, {nun de xun oplois} | {andres oplitai diataxamenoi}
| {kata tas diodous skopiorountai}. Philostr. 784.
[10] See Pollux, v. 77; Aristot. "H. A." ix. 5. Mr. Scrope ap.
Lydekker, "R. N. H." ii. p. 346, states that the dam of the red
deer makes her offspring "lie down by a pressure of her nose,"
etc.
[11] Lit. "when he sees these things."
[12] Or, "the features of the scene"; "the topography."
When his eye has lit upon the object of his search, he will approach quite close. The fawn will keep perfectly still, glued[13] as it were to earth, and with loud bleats suffer itself to be picked up; unless it happen to be drenched with rain; in which case, it will not stay quiet in one place. No doubt, the internal moisture of the animal congeals quickly with the cold[14] and causes it to shift its ground. Caught in that case it must needs be; but the hounds will have work enough to run the creature down.[15] The huntsman having seized the fawn, will hand it to the keeper. The bleating will continue; and the hind, partly seeing and partly hearing, will bear down full tilt upon the man who has got her young, in her desire to rescue it. Now is the moment to urge on the hounds and ply the javelins. And so having mastered this one, he will proceed against the rest, and employ the same method of the chase in dealing with them.
[13] {piesas}, "noosling, nestling, buried."
[14] "The blood runs cold."
[15] Or, "but it will give them a good chase; the dogs will have their
work cut out."
Young fawns may be captured in the way described. Those that are already big will give more trouble, since they graze with their mothers and the other deer, and when pursued retire in the middle of the herd or occasionally in front, but very seldom in the rear. The deer, moreover, in order to protect their young will do battle with the hounds and trample them under foot; so that capture is not easy, unless you come at once to close quarters and scatter the herd, with the result that one or another of the fawns is isolated. The effort implies[16] a strain, and the hounds will be left behind in the first heat of the race, since the very absence of their dams[17] will intensify the young deer's terror, and the speed of a fawn, that age and size, is quite incredible.[18] But at the second or third run they will be quickly captured; since their bodies being young and still unformed cannot hold out long against fatigue.
[16] Lit. "after that violent effort."
[17] Or, "alarm at the absence of the herd will lend the creature
wings."
[18] Or, "is past compare"; "is beyond all telling."
Foot-gins[19] or caltrops may be set for deer on mountains, in the neighbourhood of meadows and streams and wooded glens, on cross- roads[20] or in tilled fields at spots which they frequent.[21] These gins should be made of twisted yew twigs[22] stripped of the bark to prevent their rotting. They should have well-rounded hooplike "crowns"[23] with alternate rows of nails of wood and iron woven into the coil.[24] The iron nails should be larger, so that while the wooden ones yield to the foot, the others may press into it.[25] The noose of the cord which will be laid upon "the crown" should be woven out of esparto and so should the rope itself, this kind of grass being least liable to rot. The rope and noose itself should both alike be stout. The log or clog of wood attached should be made of common or of holm oak with the bark on, three spans in length, and a palm in thickness.[26]
[19] {podostrabai}, podostrabai so called. Cf. "the boot."
[20] {en tais diodois}, "at points where paths issue," or "cross."
[21] {pros o ti prosie}, "against whatever they are likely to
approach."
[22] Or, "should be woven out of Smilax"; "Ebenholz," Lenz; "Ifs,"
Gail.
[23] {tas de stephanas euk. ekh.} "having circular rims."
[24] {en to plokano} (al. {plokamo}) = the plaited rope, which formed
the {stephane}. See Pollux, v. 32, ap. Schneid. and Lenz.
[25] Al. "so as to press into the foot, if the wooden ones yield."
[26] Or, "27 inches x 3."
To set the trap, dig a hole in the soil to a depth of fifteen inches,[27] circular in shape, with a circumference at the top exactly corresponding to the crown and narrowing towards the bottom. For the rope and wooden clog likewise remove sufficient earth to let them both be lightly buried. That done, place the foot-gin deep enough to be just even with the surface of the soil,[28] and round the circle of the crown the cord-noose. The cord itself and wooden clog must now be lowered into their respective places. Which done, place on the crown some rods of spindle-tree,[29] but not so as to stick out beyond the outer rim; and above these again light leaves, such as the season may provide. After this put a final coating of earth upon the leaves; in the first place the surface soil from the holes just dug, and atop of that some unbroken solid earth from a distance, so that the lie of the trap may be as much as possible unnoticed by the deer. Any earth left over should be carried to a distance from the gin. The mere smell of the newly-turned-up soil will suffice to make the animal suspicious;[30] and smell it readily she will.
[27] Or, "remove a mass of soil to the depth of five palms so as to
form a circular hole corresponding in size with the rim above-
named."
[28] Or, "like a door over the cavity, somewhat below the surface,
flatwise"; i.e. "in a horizontal position."
[29] So literally, but really Carthamus creticus, a thistle-like plant
used for making spindles (Sprengel ap. L. S.), the Euonymous
europaeus being our spindle-tree. Aristot. "H. A." ix. 40, 49;
Theocr. iv. 52.
[30] Lit. "if she once sniffs the new-turned soil the deer grows shy,
and that she will quickly do." See Plat. "Laws," 933 A; "Phaedr."
242 C; "Mem." II. i. 4.