ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



653 



SERIES OF RODENT-REPTILE CAGES IN THE REPTILE HOUSE 



AN ECONOMIC RODENT-REPTILE 



COLLECTION. 



By Raymond L. Ditmars. 



AS an answer to an oft-repeated question — 

 "Of what use are reptiles.^" — a new fea- 

 ture tliat is being rapidly completed in the 

 Reptile House, will serve several purposes. In 

 the first place it will present for exhibition for 

 the first time in the Zoological Park, an elabor- 

 ate series of the small gnawing animals, or 

 rodents, a great number of the species of which 

 are highly injurious to the interests of agricul- 

 turists. .Secondly, the exhibition \n\\ contain a 

 large series of those species of snakes that prey 

 upon the destructive rodents, — thus presenting 

 for observation those serpents of marked econ- 

 omic value. Finally, the entire series will stand 

 as a clear demonstration of the perfect scheme 

 of Nature in which the production of all animal 

 life is balanced; for a part of the exhibition will 

 be cages containing representative species of 

 those mammals that, in turn, prey upon the ser- 

 ])ents, thus keeping even the destroyers of the 

 smaller injurious creatures within bounds. 



While this exhibition will be made a perma- 

 nent feature, the character of the exhibits will 

 be changed from time to time, as is the case with 

 all of the smaller creatures displayed in the 

 Zoological Park. During the present summer, 

 both the injurious mammals and the reptiles of 

 economic value will embrace species for the 

 greater ])art inhabiting North America. This 

 arrangement will be followed by an exhibition 

 of Old World species. A few very striking Old 

 World sijecies will, however, be displayed dur- 

 ing the present season. 



The smaller injurious rodents or gnawing 

 animals of North America are many and varied. 



Of the SciuridcB, the Squir- 

 rel Family, we have a very 

 elaborate series comjirising 

 eighteen species on exhibi- 

 tion in the Small-^Iammal 

 House. In the present eco- 

 nomic series of mammals 

 and reptiles, the Sciuridce 

 is being limited to the ex- 

 hibition of those species 

 realh' injurious to agricul- 

 ture. The tree squirrels, 

 genus Sciurus, cannot be 

 ]iroperly embraced under 

 this head. While the hab- 

 its of some species might 

 be rated as not friendly to 

 the farmer, the various spe- 

 cies have so rapidly decreased in number of rep- 

 resentatives, that some of them are now actual- 

 ly protected under the game laws, — this provi- 

 sion relating particularly to the Carolina gray 

 squirrel, (Sciurus carolinensis) , it being now il- 

 legal to keep specimens captive other than in 

 zoological institutions, for public exhibition. One 

 well-known species of the tree squirrel group 

 that is rated as injurious, is the North American 

 red squirrel, (Sciurus hudsonicus). Several re- 

 lated species occur in the United States, ]\Iexico 

 and Central America. These smaller members 

 of the group are notorious destroyers of birds' 

 eggs, and the recently hatched birds in the nest. 

 Whether or not their habits are injurious to 

 man, owing to their bird-destroying inclination, 

 is a subject for considerable study; for it is 



