A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



the species found in these islands) refers to 

 V. dasycneme as 'reported to have been cap- 

 tured on the banks of the Stour.'] ' 



7. Whiskered Bat. Myotts mystacinus, Leisler. 

 Bell — FesperUlio mystacinus. 

 Mr. H. Laver has met with this species in 

 the Stour valley. 



INSECTIVORA 



8. Hedgehog. Erinaceus europaus, Linn. 

 This animal is certainly far less common 



than it used to be, and in many parts of the 

 county it has become quite scarce. As 

 pointed out by the late Rev. F. Barham Zincke, 

 in his interesting history of the parish of 

 Wherstead/ the clearing away of the large 

 banks and wide rambling hedges once so 

 prevalent has deprived certain of our reptiles 

 and smaller mammals of secure and con- 

 venient retreats, and has done much towards 

 reducing their numbers. Among these 

 the hedgehog may certainly be included. 

 It has besides many enemies to contend 

 with in its struggle for existence. The 

 gamekeeper persecutes the poor hedgepig 

 most relentlessly for occasional misdemeanours, 

 and others blindly follow his example, killing 

 every one they meet with, regardless of its 

 services as a destroyer of snails, beetles and 

 young field mice. Rabbit-trapping too in- 

 volves the destruction of many of these 

 animals, which often lie up by day in a rabbit 

 burrow, and gipsies with their dogs keep a 

 sharp look-out for them for culinary purposes. 

 The old deep-rooted prejudice against the 

 hedgehog, on account of its supposed habit of 

 sucking cows, still lingers in this county. In 

 some recent correspondence on this subject in 

 the 'East Anglian Miscellany,' ' instances were 

 brought forward of the animal's supposed 

 guilt. 



9. Mole. Talpa europiea, Linn. 

 Common everywhere. On the light sandy 



soil towards the coast, as well as in other 

 parts of the county, moles are found in 

 astonishing numbers, fields and meadows 

 being almost covered with their hillocks. 

 Game-preserving is so universal here, and is 

 carried to such extremes, that most of the 

 creatures appointed by nature to keep down 

 the number of such animals as these and the 

 smaller rodents, have been well nigh exter- 



1 'Cf. Buckton, Proc. Linn. Soc. 1853, p. 260, 

 where the species is treated as a variety of F. dau- 

 bentonii. Tomes {Zoologist, 1854, p. 4361) con- 

 sidered it to be dasycneme.' 



^ Some Materials for the History of Wherstead, by 

 F. Barham Zincke, vicar of Wherstead. 



2 Published once a week in the columns of the 

 East AngUan Daily Times. 



minated. The Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain in- 

 forms me that near Sibton he has seen four or 

 five hundred moles hung out on some wire 

 fencing, near where mole-catchers have been 

 at work. When the marsh lands are flooded, 

 the moles are sometimes forced by the rising 

 waters to assemble in such spots as are slightly 

 above the general level. Here they attract 

 the attention of the herons, which on such 

 occasions clear off a good many, and numbers 

 of the 'castings' of these birds may be found 

 composed almost entirely of the bones and 

 skins of moles. On some marshes on the 

 coast between Dunwich and Sizewell the 

 writer has seen two or three great black- 

 backed gulls {Larus marinus) waiting for days 

 together about these small temporary islands, 

 the castings or pellets thrown up by these 

 birds affording conclusive evidence of the 

 nature of their diet. Long continued droughts 

 in summer are fatal to large numbers of moles. 

 The worms then descend probably to such a 

 depth that their enemies cannot follow them. 

 At such times these animals often come out 

 upon the surface of the ground, and after 

 searching about for food cannot again pene- 

 trate the hard crust, and soon die. Several 

 cream-coloured moles have been caught near 

 Sudbourne Church, and Mr. W. G. Clarke 

 informs me that the same variety has occurred 

 both at Elveden and on Barnham Common, 

 and that specimens whose fur was of a 

 yellowish tint have been taken at Fakenham. 

 Of late years quite a demand has arisen for 

 mole-skins for converting into furs, and the 

 price has gone up considerably. They were 

 recently (1903) advertised for in the East 

 Anglian Daily Times at 31. per dozen. 



10. Common Shrew. Sorex araneus, Linn. 



Locally, Ranny (applicable also to the other 

 two British shrews). 



This little animal is met with throughout 

 the county in a great variety of situations. It 

 frequents woods, hedge-banks, cornfields, dry 

 heaths, upland pastures and low wet marshes. 

 After the marsh ditches have been cleaned 

 out, the shrews drive small tunnels in all 

 directions through the mud which has been 

 thrown out, in order to get at the rich feast of 

 aquatic insects and other forms of animal life 

 contained in it. They also burrow through 



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