FOREST PROTECTION 73 



closures should be dug out. Rabbits and trees cannot exist 

 together, and as the female rabbit may rear four to eight 

 litters, each of three to eight young, in a single season, it is 

 obvious that to cope with the pest suppressive measures must 

 be very severe. 



The HARE is much less injurious than the rabbit, though 

 the damage done is of a similar character. Hares nibble 

 the shoots of deciduous trees, including Larch, more than 

 the evergreen conifers ; they also gnaw the bark to some 

 extent. They are particularly troublesome in forest nurseries, 

 where they do a great deal of harm in little time. 



ROE-DEER injure young trees very seriously by browsing 

 on the twigs, thus crippling and cankering the plants. The 

 roe-buck in rubbing off the velvet from his horns does 

 much damage to slender stems. Curiously enough, he is 

 specially apt to select for this purpose any rare species that 

 may be interspersed throughout a crop; so that these require 

 special protection. 



RED-DEER bite off buds and tender shoots, eat forest fruits, 

 especially acorns and beech nuts, rub with their antlers, and, 

 worst of all, strip the bark from stems with their teeth. For 

 peeling, Spruce is preferred ; but Scots Pine, Oak, and Beech 

 also suffer badly. In some districts an extraordinary amount 

 of damage has been wrought by red-deer ; but, on the whole, 

 the roe-deer is more destructive. Stems injured by peeling 

 have a reduced timber value; they are more liable to wind- 

 break and snowbreak, the weakened trees attract insect pests, 

 and fungi are apt to take lodgment upon the wounds. 



The best protection against damage done by game is the 

 reduction of their number, together with the careful enclosure 

 of all young woods and nurseries. For the latter purpose 

 close wire-netting fences of sufficient height are generally 

 most effective. Young conifers may have their leading 

 shoots protected against nibbling by coating the needles with 

 coal-tar, but care must be taken to avoid smearing the buds. 

 Broad-leaved trees, saplings especially, are sometimes painted 

 with fetid substances from the byre or pig-sty, mixed with 



