FOUR-FOOTED ' VERMIN.' 24-9 



CHAPTER XIV. 



" Hse tibi erunt artes : pacisque imponere morem, 

 Parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos." 



VIRGIL. 



Four-footed Vermin Less Destructive than the Human 

 Poacher The Fox Conflicting interests of the Fox- 

 hunter and Game-preserver Wild Cat Its Predatory 

 Habits and Ferocity House Cats running Wild A 

 Retriever Cat The Marten The Polecat, Stoat, and 

 Weasel Utility of the Weasel Anecdote The Hedge- 

 hog Devours Eggs The Mole Not only Harmless but 

 Beneficial Witnesses to his Good Character The 

 Squirrel unjustly Accused Trial without Jury. 



IT must be admitted that game of all kinds 

 suffer more from man than from any other sort of 

 ' vermin ' winged or fourfooted ; nevertheless the 

 human poacher is on the increase, while most of 

 the latter are diminishing or have disappeared : 

 thanks, in a great measure, to the unsatisfactory 

 state of our existing code of protective laws, the 

 discussion of which, however, is rather the pro- 

 vince of the journalist and the legislator than of 

 the naturalist or sportsman. To say nothing, 

 therefore, of the encouragement which the pro- 



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