The Bushy-Tailed Wood Rat of Brit. Columbia. 225 



are long and slender, those of A. alba are short and stout and almost 

 as thick as the peduncle. 



Yellowroot {Hydrastis Canadensis, L.), is only occasionally met 

 with and may be considered very rare. It grows in rich soil in woods 

 and has been collected at Prescott and from Niagara westward to 

 London. Owing to its large peltate leaves it might be taken at first sight 

 for small specimens of Podophyllum but the situation of the flower 

 dispells the illusion. In spring it' v sends up a stem and a single long- 

 petioled peltate leaf. The stem has two leaves near its summit, one of 

 these is petioled, the other sessile, and from this leaf rises a short 

 peduncled white flower, followed by a red fruit resembling a raspberry. 



SOME ACCOUNT OF THE BUSHY-TAILED WOOD RAT 

 OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Neotoma cinerea, Ord.) 



By C. DeBlois Green, Osoyoos, B. C. 



In the interior of British Columbia there lives a small animal 

 which is more destructive and more annoying than any other animal 

 pest I know. It is the Bushy-tailed Wood-rat or Bush-rat, an animal rather 

 heavier than the Norway Rat and having a tail not unlike that of a 

 Flying Squirrel but not so well developed or silky. The whiskers are 

 very long and coarse, the colour of the body is gray, and the hair is finer 

 and longer than that of the Norway rat. 



Its natural home is in the mountains among rock slides and broken 

 rocky hillsides and where possible it protects its hole by collecting 

 cactus and storing them in quantities all around its home, probably to 

 keep coyotes and other enemies at bay. So long as it contents itself 

 with this kind ot life, it is bearable, but when it finds that a cabin is in 

 the neighbourhood, the rock slide is not good enough for it. 



The first warning one has of the objectionable presence of this animal 

 in a house is hearing a series of heavy blows struck on some board 

 as with a quirt. This is done with the tail which is kept going when- 



