INJURIES FROM ANIMALS 153 



ing buds of the horse-chestnut and many 

 coniferous trees, while cones of the same 

 species are by no means exempt from their 

 attacks. Tree stems, when the bark is smooth 

 and sappy, suffer much from attacks of the 

 squirrel, and in the illustration the effects of 

 repeated attacks on branches of hard-wooded 

 trees will be noted. Preventive measures are 

 by no means readily adopted, and shooting or 

 trapping has in many aggravated cases been 

 reluctantly resorted to. Standard, isolated 

 trees of the horse-chestnut and other species 

 may be preserved from attack by tying a band 

 of gorse around the stem, but where there are 

 many trees in close proximity such a method 

 of preservation is out of the question. For 

 nesting purposes bark from the branches of 

 decayed lime trees is often employed. 



Rats and mice sometimes damage the bark 

 of both young trees and seedling plants, though 

 their attacks are somewhat local. The vole 

 or water-rat is undoubtedly the most to be 

 dreaded, as it will attack not only seeds and 

 seedlings, but the bark of many species of 

 hard-wooded and coniferous trees. We have 



