WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



sure to dig half of them up to eat the kernels. This 

 mischief is mainly done in the winter, when the 

 trees are packed away from the frost ; or if they are 

 growing, because then the mice can move about 

 concealed under the snow, and nibble all the bark 

 away up to the surface. Rabbits get much of the 

 credit of this naughty work, for they do a good 

 deal of it on their own account. The gardener 

 has the same trouble, often finding, when he un- 

 covers a rare and costly plant in the spring, that 

 the mice have enjoyed good winter-quarters in his 

 straw covering, and have been gnawing to death 

 his choice roses. Millions of dollars, perhaps, 

 would not pay for all the damage these small creat- 

 ures thus accomplish each year in the United 

 States, and I fear they will become more and more 

 of a plague if we continue to kill off the harmless 

 hawks, owls, butcher-birds, and snakes, which are 

 the policemen appointed by Nature to look after 

 the mice and protect us against them. 



In captivity the wild mice, especially the white- 

 footed deer- mouse, make very pretty pets ; and one 

 can easily study all their ways by giving them 

 earth in which to burrow and the various sorts of 

 food in which they delight. 



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