718 



FARMERS' REGISTER— THE MOUSE— THE MOLE. 



addition, not only to natural liislory, but useful to 

 all planters, who, when tlicy are made aware of 

 the nature of tiie obstacles presented to tiiem, will 

 have a better chance than otherwise would be the 

 case of discovering- a remedy. 



' In speakinii' of shrew-mice, Pennant tells us 

 that the root of the while hellebore and staves-acre* 

 mixed with meal is a certain poison for them. If 

 so, it may be well to attempt by the same means 

 to destroy these enemies.' 



In a subsequent letter Sir Joseph Banks says, 

 ' On talking over the subject of the mice with a 

 very intelligent practical" man, he suggested an 

 idea that the evil of young ))lants being barked by 

 mice may be much more prevalent than we sup- 

 pose it to be, though attributed to the teeth of rab- 

 bits and hares, instead of mice. He mentioned a 

 wood of mine in Derbyshire, where abundance of 

 young trees were planted, and the whole destroyed 

 by rabbits, as my steward and himself supposed. 

 Also much mischief in the woods of Lord Vernon 

 at Sudbury Hall near TJttoxetcr in the same coun- 

 ty. In both these cases the trees Avere never 

 barked higher than about six inches from the 

 ground — as high as a mouse can reach ; but a rab- 

 bit can as easily bark a tree a loot from the ground 

 as an inch. 



' The notion in my judgment is worthy of inqui- 

 ry and verilication. The officers of the forest can 

 no doubt tell whether a rai)bit and a hare confined 

 themselves in barking to the lowest six inches, or 

 i-each with their teeth higher up.' 



In answer to this suggestion it may be stated 

 that there were no rabbits and very few hares in 

 the enclosure in Dean Forest, so tiiat the damage 

 done to the plants could not have been occasioned 

 by them. I3esides, several of the Ibrest woodmen 

 and others attested that they had frequently seen 

 the mice in the act of barking the trees, even at 

 the height of three and four feet from the ground, 

 having climbed up the trees to that distance. 



In another letter from Sir Joseph Banks, he 

 says, ' I have inquired far and near, and I cannot 

 meet with any who have suffered by the barking 

 of young trees who attributes the mischief to mice. 

 The discovery therelbre must prove advantageous 

 to all planters.' 



In one of the Dean Forest enclosures many old 

 hollies had been cut down to clear the way lor the 

 plantations ; and from them bushes consisting of 

 many young shoots, had grown up. Almost all 

 of these in one month of the year (September) 

 were observed to be in a state of greater or less 

 decay, some quite black, some turning yellow, 

 whilst a few still remained green. Upon inspect- 

 ing them it was found that the bark had been 

 gnawed off more or less, and more or less recently 

 .iccording to the gradations of decay. The mice 

 however barked indifferently young oaks, ash, 

 beech, hollies, and willows, ancl but very few of 

 the fir tribe. 



In the pits made for catching the mice, they ex- 

 hausted themselves in efforts to climb up the sides, 

 so that by far the greater number of them were 

 taken out dead. Many were drowned where the 

 water partly filled the holes; but so little did they 

 dread water, that ash was seen fresh barked, 

 the bottom of which was surrounded with water 

 in such a way, that one of the officers of the forest 



* A kind of larkspur 



asserted, in an official report, that the mouse must 

 liave L)ecn actually swimming at the time of bark- 

 ing it. In the same report lie also mentions his 

 belief that the weasels, at the time they are prey- 

 ing on mice, swallow them whole, and that what 

 they cannot digest, as the fur, &c., they void from 

 their mouths in l)alls afterwards; so that it is 

 scarcely ever perceptible where they have eaten 

 their prey. In one of the retreats of a weasel ten 

 mice were found ; and another weasel was seen to 

 run into its hole with a mouse in its mouth. It is 

 probable however that they were brought there as 

 food lor the young. The weasel, I believe, gene- 

 rally sucks the blood of its prey, at least that of the 

 larger animals. 



It should be mentioned in conclusion that, in a 

 plantation in Dean Forest, consisting of three 

 liundred acres, not more than four or five ])lants 

 were found Avhich were not injured by the mice or 

 indeed destroyed by them. Many of the plants 

 bitten through w ere as thick as a man's arm ; and 

 the roots were gnawed so close to the stem, that 

 some of the young trees were seen either reclining 

 on one side, or level with the ground. 



The following account will show the numbers 

 of mice caught in the different enclosures in Deau 

 Forest in three months from September to Janua- 

 ry, with the number of acres, and the proportion 

 between the long and the short-tailed mice. 



Short-tailed. Long-tailed. 

 Acres. Mice. Mice. Total. 

 Haywood Enclosure 418 12,850 8 12,858 

 Oily Hill ditto -11 1,1(31 11 1,172 



Crabtree Hill ditto 372 7,851 7,851 



Park Hill ditto 113 2,665 2,665 



Shutcastle ditto 163 484 33 517 



Sallow Vallcts ditto 386 1,361 1,361 



BarnhiU ditto 50 70 70 



Birchwood ditto 50 3 3 



WhitemeadParkdo. 100 1,559 15 1,574 



Total Acres, 1,693 Total Mice, 28,071 



I should not forget to mention that, in New 

 Forest, foxes were frequently seen hunting after 

 the mice, and eating them greedily. 



THE MOLE. 



From Jesse's Gleanings of Natural History. 



The mole-hills which we see in fields and mea- 

 dows are thrown up by the mole probably during 

 its search for food. Little was known of the natu- 

 ral history of this animal, till a French naturalist, 

 M. St. Hilaire, published lately some interesting 

 particulars respecting it. The mole forms several 

 under-ground passages ; and the way she proceeds 

 in doing this is as follows : — she first makes a run 

 in various directions, by undermining the ground, 

 and unites this and several others at one point, 

 making, however, some of them larger than the 

 others. M. St. Hilaire says that she finishes by 

 arranging them with the most perfect symmetry, 

 plastering the sides with great care; and when 

 completed, it may be called her encamjwient. In 

 the centre of these works she establishes herself, 

 and appropriates a separate place to the reception 

 of her young, which is in some respects different- 

 ly constructed from her own. In order to render 

 the respective habitations which she and her young 

 occupy not liable to be injured by the rain, she 

 makes them almost even with the ground, and 

 higher up than the runs, which serve as drains, or 



