HOW TO USE THIS FIELD BOOK 



mammals alive or, if a study specimen for the collector's 

 cal^inet is desired, the traps may be of the ordinary Newhouse 

 pattern or the common, spring mouse- trap. Since we have so 

 many details yet to learn about the daily habits and home life 

 of mammals, there is much to commend capturing them alive 

 and keeping them in comfortable cages under observation. 

 JMost small mammals tame readily and are easily cared for, 

 and especially is this true of the rodents. 



Although it is not very difficult to find the evidence that 

 small rodents are present in a given locality, it is not often that 

 one can catch more than a glimpse of the creatures themselves, 

 and then they are apt to be alarmed and soon pass from 

 observation. Meadow Mice, White-footed Mice, Pocket Mice, 

 Jumping Mice, etc., may be fairly abundant in a region and 

 yet so seldom seen that trapping is the only recourse. The 

 best trap for these small mammals is a box-trap, and for bait 

 many things may be used, — apple, raisin, grain, bread, bacon, 

 and so forth ; most small mammals are unsuspecting and enter 

 traps freely. 



To gain a complete idea of the mammals of a locality it will 

 be necessary to set out traps for dead specimens and to skin 

 and make up the mammals into so-called "study specimens." 

 These are then studied and identified from descriptions in 

 books and by direct comparisons with specimens in the large 

 museums. One soon gains the knack of preparing these study 

 specimens and the building up and serious study of a 

 mammal collection is well worth the time devoted to it. The 

 sentimental reluctance one naturally feels at killing these wild 

 creatures may be set at rest by the realization that the forces 

 of the wild environment and the stupendous sacrifice of life 

 exacted every twenty-four hours by Dame Nature herself make 

 the activity of the collector a very trivial consideration; and it 

 is better to devote a few specimens to a serious and lasting 

 purpose than to forego the capture and surrender the victim 

 to a Snake, Hawk, Weasel or predatory House-cat. The 

 collector is usually the least of all the many enemies a mammal 

 may have. 



A small, compact set of instructions on the Capture and 

 Preservation of Small Mammals for Study is published by the 

 American Museum of Natural History, Guide Leaflet No. 6i, 

 and is sold at fifteen cents a copy. The United States 



