THE INSTRUCTIVE RODENT 



sometimes kills poultry. The enlightened, progressive 

 farmer constructs vermin-proof enclosures in which 

 his fowls can roost at night. The lazy, easy-going 

 type prefer to let the poultry sleep in trees, or any- 

 where ; and when an eagle owl, driven to desperation 

 by hunger, attacks and kills a fowl, the owner's ire is 

 aroused, and all owls are shot on sight ever afterwards. 

 Even should an eagle owl be known to take fowls in 

 this way it would be fir more economical for the 

 farmer to make a proper roosting enclosure for his 

 fowls than to kill that owl. 



Should an owl only succeed in killing one rat every 

 night it would render great service to man, for about 

 half of the t>6$ rats killed annually for a period of 

 twenty-five to thirty years and longer would be females, 

 each of which would have produced half a dozen litters 

 of eight to ten in a litter annually. 



Now and then an eagle owl succeeds in killing 

 a hare. Knowing this, the sportsman regards this 

 bird as a foe. What is the life of an occasional 

 hare against the swarms of rats and mice slain bv 

 this magnificent bird ? The hare is a destructive 

 rodent and a positive pest devoid of any economic value. 

 The bird is often accused of being destructive to game 

 birds, particularly partridges and pheasants. This is 

 not so. These birds hide away so effectually at night 

 that it is impossible for the owl to see them. It must 

 be borne in mind that owls hunt for their prey by night 

 only, and in doing so they invariably skim noiselessly 

 over the land and drop down upon their victims before 

 they can find a refuge. The mission of the owl is to 



171 



