224 GNAWING ANIMALS 



easily gnaw through boards, and even through leaden 

 pipes. 



The Mouse makes a ball-like nest of rags, paper, wool, 

 straw, and all kinds of nibbled litter, in which it brings forth 

 a family several times a year ; and in fifteen days the young 

 ones are able to foray for themselves. When only a few 

 months old they commence to bring litters into the world ; 

 which accounts for the fact that the natural enemies of 

 Mice make so little impression upon their numbers. 



In ordinary dwelling-houses Mice cause considerable 

 annoyance ; but in stores, warehouses and barns their 

 opportunities for mischief are increased a hundredfold. 

 Rickyards are the happiest abodes of the little Rodents, 

 which can make their runs in and under a cornstack 

 secure from disturbance until the corn is threshed. At the 

 threshing of one rick it is nothing unusual to capture 

 Mice by the bushel, and the quantity of grain they con- 

 sume may easily make inroads upon the farmer's profits. 



FIELD MOUSE (Mus sylvaticus). 



The Field Mouse, often called the Wood Mouse, 

 frequents gardens, hedgerows, and cornfields, although in 

 winter it does not hesitate to seek shelter in barns and 

 outhouses. In rickyards it is common, but in far less 

 numbers than the foregoing. It makes its home in any 

 small crevice, under the roots of trees, and often in the 

 deserted runs of the mole. It is distributed over all the 

 temperate regions of Europe. 



It is slightly larger than the common mouse, and its tail 

 is nearly the length of its head and body ; the legs, too, are 

 rather longer. The fur is reddish grey, with a spot of light 

 brown on the chest. 



The food of the Field Mouse consists chiefly of grain 

 and seeds, acorns and nuts, of which it stores up a 

 considerable quantity for use during the winter. Though 

 the creature works no little injury to crops, the greatest 

 damage arises from hogs rooting up the ground in search 

 of the winter hoards of the thrifty little Rodents. 



