S8 



THE NATURE BOOK 



grasping portion of it centres in the last 

 quarter inch. This will make a complete 

 turn round a cornstalk, while the re- 

 mainder is capable of rather more than 

 half a turn. Owing to the under surface 

 being flattened the tail presents an 

 angular appearance, and a section of it 

 appears four-sided. The vertebrcie — ^about 

 twenty- -seven in number — reach to 

 the extreme end. Those near the body 

 are stout and short-waisted. The first 

 ten shorten gradually, but the remainder 

 shorten very quickly, becoming slender 

 and long-waisted, and tending away from 

 the centre of the tail to its upper surface. 

 As a result there is little flesh above the 

 bones in the prehensile portion, while be- 

 low the bones there is a muscular cushion 

 between one and two millimetres thick. 



It is not surprising to find that this 

 serviceable organ is incessantly employed, 

 and that the possession of what may be 

 fairly termed a fifth hand has turned 

 the Harvest Mouse into a wonderful 

 gymnast. 



The vertical revolutions which a captive 

 squirrel performs round his perch are 

 probably familiar to most people. The 

 Harvest Mouse could give the squirrel 

 a lesson. He can perform a revolution 

 at an angle of 45°, and a revolution which 

 is practically horizontal. Once fairly 

 started he is a living diabolo, and it is 

 delightful to watch four or five perform 

 together. Each does his own particular 

 spin in his own particular way, a hand 

 here, a foot there, a momentary grip of 

 the tail, sometimes upon a fixed support, 

 sometimes, timed to a nicety, on a circling 

 companion. Occasionally two tails become 

 entangled, whereby the combined figure is 

 completely disorganised. 



The Harvest Mouse is fond of running 

 straight up a stalk from the bottom to the 

 top, and, so far as most of him is concerned, 

 beyond the top. He retains, of course, 

 the grip of his tail and hind feet, but swings 

 his body this way and that, and, having 

 satisfied himself with the view and the 

 prevailing scent, descends with equal 

 speed, his tail following in a curious spiral 

 motion and evidently acting as a brake. 



It is not in movement alone, however, 

 that the Harvest Mouse employs his tail. 

 When sitting still he hitches it round, 



or braces it against, some fixed support. 

 If no support presents itself he is usually 

 uneasy, and it is amusing, under these 

 circumstances, to watch his tail-end grop- 

 ing for a hold. It twists, and squirms, 

 and asks ! If you present your finger-tip 

 it fastens to it gratefully. 



Should he, however, be quite sure of his 

 foothold (and in this case he has usually 

 gripped his support between as well as with 

 his toes), he will stick his tail out straight 

 behind him, the prehensile portion being 

 more or less contracted. In time, I think, 

 this tail will do great things. The Harvest 

 Mouse will swing by it and hang by it. At 

 present both these feats are beyond him : 

 but should he cultivate his jumping powers, 

 which certainly need cultivation, he will 

 find them essential. 



The staple food of Harvest Mice is 

 grain. Like other small rodents, they 

 will eat insects on occasion, and, like 

 other small rodents, they have an ugly 

 tendency to cannibalism. I once kept a 

 Dormouse and a Harvest Mouse together 

 until the Dormouse devoured the Harvest 

 Mouse, and I have found that a duel 

 between two Harvest Mice in a com- 

 munity usually results in indiscriminate 

 bloodshed and a horrid orgy of feasting. 



Normally, however, Harvest Mice are 

 peaceable, gregarious little folk, and if 

 carefully looked after, will live for two 

 or three years contentedly together. 



It is probably the restricted breeding 

 season which accounts for Harvest Mice 

 being somewhat less numerous than the 

 other species of Mice in Great Britain. 

 Their litters are large, seven or eight young 

 on the average, and there are probably 

 several litters in the season. I am not 

 aware that they have any peculiar enemies. 

 It is said that cats will not eat them, but 

 I have had some painful experiences to 

 the contrary, and dogs will swallow them 

 wholesale. They are less likely than other 

 Mice to be caught by birds of prey ; indeed, 

 I think a Harvest Mouse would seldom 

 be in a position where a bird of prey could 

 get him. There may be a few stragglers 

 left after harvest, in the stubble, but the 

 greater jiroportion would be carted in 

 the sheaves. Rats, weasels, and snakes 

 probably account for the majority of those 

 whose ends are untimely. 



Douglas English. 



