218 



THE APPLE CULTURIST. 



refuge when attacked by persons, will attack their aggressors with great fierce- 

 ness. We have often extended the toe of one boot into the fore-front of the battle, 

 when an infuriated mouse was the invading foe, and the plucky little fighter would 

 leave the prints of his sharp teeth in the leather. Thus much for the natural his- 

 tory of the foregoing species of mice. The chief practical consideration is, how 

 to prevent their ravages ? 



Meadow mice of all kinds have numerous enemies. All kinds of hawks cap- 

 ture a great many. Cats destroy large numbers ; and skunks, when they can find 

 a nest of young ones, will devour an entire litter. They often construct their 



nests on the surface of the 

 ground, in the grass, in 

 stone-heaps, beneath boards 

 and pieces of rails, in old 

 ant - hills, beneath old 

 stumps, and in the ground. 

 Hence, every farmer and 

 gardener should keep sev- 

 eral active cats not old 

 and indolent pussies but 

 young and fierce mousers, 

 which should be fed well 

 every day with milk. A 

 young female cat is far bet- 

 ter than a male ; and if the 

 female be allowed to rear 

 two or three kittens, she 

 will destroy large numbers 

 of mice. A well-fed female 

 cat will catch more mice, 

 when well fed on milk and 

 fragments from the table, 

 than if she be compelled to 

 subsist wholly on mice. If 

 a cat be allowed to rear two 

 kittens, she will hunt mice 

 a large proportion of the 

 time; whereas, if her kit- 

 tens be killed soon after 

 their birth, pussy will have 

 but little inclination to hunt 

 mice. 



The refuges of mice must 

 be destroyed. Let all the 

 old pieces of rails and bark 

 be placed on end, and let 

 old log-heaps and piles of 

 brush be burned, so that 

 cats and other animals can 

 seize them before they can 

 reach a refuge. When mice 

 are met with in meadows, 

 and when one is ploughing, 

 let every one be killed. 

 When old rail-fences have 

 settled down close to the 

 ground, and the tall grass 



