CHAPTER VI 



BRITISH GNAWING MAMMALS 



I. Squirrels^ Hares ^ and Rabbits 



In the woodlands, where the SquuTel has its home, 

 the landscape always seems to be richer for its presence. 

 From end to end of our islands this little brown- 

 coated denizen of the woods may be found. In some 

 localities it is scarcer than in others, but in some 

 quarters it actually becomes a distinct species of 

 vermin. The animal has an intense love for the young 

 shoots of forest trees, and where these are planted out 

 Squirrels often do an immense amount of damage. In 

 the pine- woods of northern Scotland a deadly warfare is 

 annually carried on against these tree-dwellers. It 

 appears, however, that towards the more southern 

 parts of the country the Squirrel does far less harm 

 than about the mountain-slopes. The animal has a 

 partiality to the fruit of forest trees, and in the spring- 

 time it will clear immense tracks of the sprouting buds, 

 and frequently peel the bark from young trees that 

 have just started into growth. Vast areas of silver-fir 

 woods are irretrievably ruined by the concerted 

 nibbling of Squirrels in the pine-forests of Scotland. 

 Hence the repeated attempts that are made to thin 

 their ranks or extirpate the animals. The misdeeds of 



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