GROUND AND WATER ENEMIES 95 



ture, 1 says : "The rat is a most serious pest in game pre- 

 serves. The propagation of game birds, both native and 

 introduced, is now a promising industry in the United 

 States. The rat has already proved itself a foe by de- 

 stroying both eggs and young of pheasants. Abroad, 

 the game preserver regards the rat as the worst enemy 

 of game. A writer in Chambers' Journal says, 'In a 

 closely preserved country at the end of an average year 

 the game suffers more from the outlying rats of the lord- 

 ship than from the foxes and the mustelines together. 

 The solitary rats, whether males or females, are the curse 

 of a game country. They are most difficult to detect, for 

 in a majority of cases their special work is supposed to 

 be done by hedgehog, weasels or stoats." 2 



The late Mr. William Carnegie ("Moorman"), one of 

 the most distinguished sporting writers, who at the time 

 of his death was the English correspondent of The Ama- 

 teur Sportsman, says in his work on "Game Preserving:" 

 "There is little doubt that of late years the worst vermin 

 with which the generality of preservers have had to con- 

 tend has been the rat. It has increased largely in num- 

 bers and in some districts become quite a plague, despite 

 the extraordinary efforts made to deal with its ever- 

 increasing depredations. It is unnecessary to speculate 

 upon the probable cause of this remarkable increase. It 

 is due entirely to the neglect of farmers, preservers and 

 others to adopt adequate means to deal with the pest."* 



Mr. Lantz says our native game birds in the wild state 

 are less subject to rat depredations than imported species. 



1 "The Brown Rat in the United States." By David E. Lanty. Bul- 

 letin 33, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. Agr. 2 Chambers' Journal, Vol. 

 82, p. 64, January, 1905. 



♦"Practical Game Preserving." By William Carnegie, p. 349. 



