ii 7o 



Rural School Leaflet 



Ermine are disagreeable neighbors for the farmer, as they kill for the 

 mere joy of killing, often leaving victims uneaten as they hurry on for 

 more. These tireless hunters follow their prey by scent, and, whenever 

 there is an abundance of game, content themselves with merely sucking 

 the blood or biting into the skull and devouring the brain. In cold 

 weather, however, they often store the uneaten food. They go on long 

 hunts which sometimes last for weeks, and they seek shelter in the 

 several nests that they have along the route. They kill many mice, rats, 

 chipmunks, and squirrels, chasing them long distances over land or through 

 water. They follow them into any retreat, and frequently seize their 

 prey by the throat. They are fond of ruffed grouse and are very destruc- 

 tive to our domestic fowls, having been known to kill as many as 

 forty in one night. Their white color doubtless protects them in their 

 winter hunting, and the black tip of the tails, holding the attention, 

 distracts from their form as they leap over the ground in their peculiar 

 way. The footprints are in twos, considerably larger than those of 

 a mouse, the hind feet falling exactly in the prints of the fore feet. 



The homes of these troublesome animals are under stumps, in hollow 

 roots of old trees, or often in burrows formerly the property of some 

 animal eaten by the weasel. Little is known of their breeding habits, 

 but during the greater part of the year the two sexes are not congenial. 

 There is probably but one litter in a year, numbering five to six young. 

 These are born in early May and remain near the nest during the summer. 



Fig. i 

 green slime 



SNAILS 



A. H. Wright 



The common snails are interesting forms of animal life 

 for schoolroom observation. The pond snails will be 

 found on the vegetation around the sides of a pond or 

 on leaves taken from the bottom. They may be kept 

 in any glass jar filled with water in which there are 

 some aquatic plants, including the green slime found 

 on the surface of ponds. The land snails are plentiful 

 in all limestone regions and can be found in any rather 

 moist place, under the shelter of loose stones or boulders, 

 or under dead leaves or decaying logs. Some live on 

 leaves or grasses, sedges or shrubbery, particularly near 

 ponds. 



The food of all snails consists mostly of the tender 

 parts of some form of plant life, such as leaves of 

 plants. They feed on the algae, which appear as the 

 mentioned above. Snails are most active in the spring, 



