90 ANIMAL LIFE OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



there is a house handy to which it can gain entrance in late 

 autumn, it prefers to become the guest of those whose garden 

 has been a boon to it through the spring and summer. We 

 have had them spend the winter cosily in our rolled-up tennis 

 nets, stowed away in a shed to keep them dry in the off-season ; 

 and as potatoes were stored in the same place they consumed 

 a number of these. On several other occasions Wood Mice 

 were detected attempting impudently to enter the dwelling 

 house by the back-door. Once an entire family mater, pater, 

 and five active youngsters succeeded in this enterprise ; but 

 they left incriminating evidence of their presence, though they 

 were suspected of being ordinary House Mice. Accordingly a 

 break-back trap, baited with cheese, was set one evening, and 

 within half an hour its loud clap proclaimed its effectiveness. 

 This trap appeared to show that the Wood Mouse is a simple- 

 minded, unsuspecting creature, for it was reset with the same 

 uneaten bit of cheese-rind for bait again and again, and no 

 sooner was the trapper's back turned than another member of 

 the family was secured. Seven times it sprang, and then its 

 inaction appeared to be due to the fact that there were no more 

 possible victims, for we saw no further traces of the mice. Its 

 general resemblance to the House Mouse frequently leads to 

 its being mistaken for that species. 



There are several litters of young during the year, and these 

 vary in number from five to nine an alarming rate of increase ; 

 but, fortunately, the Barn Owl that hunts the hedgerow inch by 

 inch, every evening, takes a heavy toll that keeps the numbers 

 down. The Fox, the Weasel, the Hedgehog, and the Viper also 

 do their part. 



The Wood Mouse is a very active creature, running and 

 jumping in zigzag fashion, climbing high in the bushes in 

 order to obtain berries, leaping from considerable heights, and 

 swimming well when occasion requires. Although an accom- 

 plished excavator, it often makes use of unmortared stone walls 



