SUPPRESSION OF RODENTS 185 



wildcats, all the weasel-tribe, and the brown rat, 

 one of his few commendable traits. 



Bears, the puma and the wildcats, foxes and 

 wolves, all subsist largely on mice and ground- 

 squirrels. Dogs frequently follow their mas- 

 ters to the field at plowing and harvesting, 

 ready to pounce upon every mouse or gopher 

 uncovered; and they sometimes become very 

 fond of both the prey and the sport and hunt 

 independently. Some cats are good mousers, 

 and in places live largely on wild game; but 

 unfortunately they also learn to destroy song- 

 birds and game-birds, and their nests. The 

 ordinary farm cat is a terrifically destructive 

 animal, and when it develops hunting pro- 

 clivities it should either be reformed, or belled 

 or killed. Rats kill many mice, in the fields, 

 as well as about houses, forcing their way into 

 their burrows. Even the ferocious little shrews 

 may do so, dashing fearlessly at one twice the 

 shrew's size. 



The weasel tribe the best police. The most 

 efficient check upon the over-production of ro- 

 dents, however, so far as mammals are con- 

 cerned, is furnished by the tireless hunting of 



