158 MOUNTAIN AND MOORLAND 



ing of British mammals ? So keen of sense, so strong 

 of limb and jaw, so adventurous in its hunting, so 

 perfect in its woodcraft, so resourceful in face of 

 danger, such a creature deserves well to live. It is a 

 restless rover, a good fighter, and fond of blood, but 

 the other side of the picture is the thoroughness of 

 the mother's care. She will hardly leave the young 

 ones save for a hurried meal; she carries them to a 

 sunny bank when they are big enough and begins to 

 teach them the alphabet of significant sounds and 

 scents; she shows them how to swim and dive, how to 

 lie low, how to catch and how properly to eat Trout 

 and Eel, Frog and bird; she plays with them and she 

 will die for them. One of Nature's voices is : 

 " Struggle, Endeavour, Struggle " ; but the answers- 

 back to difficulties that make up the struggle include 

 caring for others as well as caring for self. Otters 

 survive because they are strong and clever, but also 

 because they are such good mothers. They have such 

 a capacity for self-forgetfulness. 



The lower reaches of the stream, where it lingers in 

 the meadow, are the homes of two mammals, one 

 well known and one little known. The first is the 

 Water Vole and the second is the Water Shrew. 

 Everyone knows the Water Vo\e(Microtusamphibius), 

 and almost everyone calls it the Water Rat. It is 

 easy to see, however, that it has a broader head and 

 much shorter ears than a Rat has, and that the tail, 

 which is much shorter than a Rat's, is covered with 

 close-set hairs. Its winding burrows are abundant 

 along the banks of the stream, and they often have an 

 under-water as well as an above-ground entrance. 

 The creature swims and dives well, and feeds mainly 



