74 FAUNA OF SHROPSHIRE. 



is unnecessary. Although it is generally found in or 

 near to houses, the Rat often takes up its quarters in 

 fields and gardens, or on the banks of brooks, and 

 lives there through the summer. It swims and dives 

 as readily as the Water Vole, and when seen in or 

 near water the two are often confounded. As is 

 well-known, the Rat is practically omnivorous, and 

 when living on a stream it eats fish and snails as well 

 as vegetable matter, while its offences are often laid 

 to the charge of the harmless Water Vole which is a 

 strict vegetarian. The Rat is exceedingly prolific and 

 the numbers sometimes found together are almost in- 

 credible ; over 2500 were killed in a single night in some 

 slaughter-houses in Paris. At a farm house close to 

 Shrewsbury, where they are not molested, they are so 

 tame that they do not run away at the approach of 

 man, and a policeman told the writer that he had 

 walked up and knocked down five in one night. Com- 

 pared with the Black Rat, the Brown Rat has a shorter 

 head and more blunt muzzle, smaller ears, and shorter 

 tail. The general colour is greyish-brown above, lighter 

 beneath. Average length, 16 inches, of which the tail 

 measures a little less than half. Albinos and pied 

 varieties occur, and there is a specimen of the first, 

 shot at Shawbury, in the Shrewsbury Museum. 

 FIELD VOLE, or Short-tailed Field-mouse, If the 

 Microtus agrestis. Long-tailed Field-mouse is considered 



a pest on account of the injury it does 

 to the farmer, what can be said of the Short-tailed 

 Mouse ? It is much more injurious, because it is usually 

 more numerous, and at times has been known to appear 

 in enormous numbers, causing complete devastation 



