3 4 THE MAMMALS OF THE WOODS 



solitary life, but during the pairing-time there are often fierce combats between 

 the more powerful rivals. 



Wild swine are not entirely forest animals like red deer. In north 

 Africa they live among swamps and pasture lands, and in upper Egypt among 

 sugar-cane plantations; in parts of Asia they leave the forest, temporarily at 

 least, to live for a time among tall grass near water. On the Continent they 

 favour undisturbed forests with numerous thickets, which afford a safe retreat 

 during the day. The old boar makes his lair under some pine-tree with droop- 

 ing branches, or in a dense mass of thorn-bushes. In such a situation the 

 boar digs up the ground and excavates a deep hole, which, after being lined 

 with moss and ferns, is used again and again, and in which he is barely visible. 

 Sows sometimes make their lairs in small copses amid the open fields, even when 

 large forests are near. This may be due to the weather, since it is supposed that 

 sows prefer sunny shelters in winter, while in the warmer months they select 

 cooler situations exposed to the north. With the twilight they rise from their 

 lairs and set off at a trot, now and then stopping to dig up the ground. They 

 frequently sniff' in the air when they do not feel quite safe, especially when they 

 have to cross a road or fence in emerging from the forest into the open. If 

 anything suspicious attracts their notice, they utter a snuffing, hissing sound, 

 and then disappear so noiselesslj- that it might be thought they had sunk into 

 the gi-ound. The slightest thing will rouse their suspicion ; an object lighter in 

 colour than the surroundings, or even a softly creaking bough, is sufficient to drive 

 away these shy animals, for, while their sight is imperfect, their hearino- and scent 

 are excellent. Indeed, they always recognise their pursuer by scent, not by sight. 

 If compelled by necessity, the wild boar does not hesitate to swim across the 

 strongest and most rapid streams. 



Winter is the worst time for wild swine. In the colder districts of the 

 Continent the icy crust so often formed wounds their fore-feet, which frequently 

 turn gangrenous, and thus cause death. Man, moreover, takes a large share in 

 their destruction, and many are shot from covert, and especially from the boar- 

 pulpit, as it is called in Germany— that is to say, an artificial stand, ascended by 

 means of a ladder, where they are waited for until they come within range. They 

 are occasionally hunted by hounds, and when abundant, are caught in traps. 



squirrel. The only otner mammalian order of vegetable - eaters repre- 



sented in central Europe is the Rodentia. The mammals of this 

 great group, as their name implies, gnaw their food, and have their teeth 

 specially adapted for a diet of this nature, being thus easily distinguished 

 from other members of the class. In each jaw they have one pair of long, chisel- 

 like incisors which grow continuously, and, except in the case of the hare family, 

 are their only incisors. Since the rodents have no canines in either jaw, and 

 never more than four cheek-teeth on each side, there is always a long gap 

 between the incisors and the molars. These features alone would be sufficient 

 to distinguish them from all other mammals, with the exception of the aye-aye 

 of Madagascar. As a rule, their feet have four or five toes, furnished with sharp 

 claws or large nails, and they walk either on the whole or a part of the sole. 



