748 THE SMALL-MAMMAL PROBLEM 
shelter to small mammals. Our rural rodent population will 
then be kept within bounds by the action of the weather, and 
of its chief enemies, the carnivorous mammals and birds. It 
is of vital importance, to general agriculture and to the 
nation at large, that we should preserve a sufficiently strong 
carnivorous element in our fauna. We possess no _ better 
friends than the Weasel, the Stoat, our native Owls, and the 
Kestrel, since small rodents form the staple food of all these 
animals, 
But our carnivora are systematically persecuted through- 
out the country and brought to the verge of extinction. The 
game preserver endeavours to rear annually a stock of game 
far in excess of the natural capacity of his estate, hoping each 
season to produce a great surplus which he may destroy for 
pleasure and profit. This cannot be done to so large an 
extent in the presence of carnivora as in their absence ; carni- 
vora will help themselves to part of the surplus produced. 
Therefore carnivora are proscribed; and the preserver and 
his keeper ruthlessly destroy that, which, in the national 
interest, should be carefully protected. It is said that the 
rearer of poultry will suffer if carnivora become abundant. 
But it must be remembered that carnivorous tastes are not 
peculiar to the Order Carnivora or to the Birds of Prey; 
the development of such a taste is often a mere matter of 
opportunity, and the Common Rat frequently shows itself to 
be as carnivorous, and as destructive of life as any species 
of true carnivore, its crimes being often laid at the doors of 
other species. If the poultry farmer, the fancier, and the 
game preserver protect their stocks from the ravages of the 
Common Rat, they will have little to fear from the much 
hated carnivora. ‘Everything in this world has its price, and 
carnivora do not form an exception to that rule; we need 
them and must pay the price, but whether we buy cheaply 
or dearly depends entirely upon ourselves. 
