SNO\)C^BOUND ANIMALS 



By WALTER M, GALLICHAN 



WHEN the blizzard sweeps the land, 

 pursued by the cry of the fierce 

 north-east wind, and the frozen 

 snow, fine as sand, drifts on the hills and 

 by the hedgerows, the wild quadrupeds 

 and birds of our islands exhibit that 

 intelligence which enables the fittest 

 among them to survive the ravage of 

 weather. The mountain hares of Scot- 

 land, and the ptarmigan, which thrive 

 at all times in high altitudes, suffer less 

 than any other species of our native 

 fauna during a hard winter. But heavy 

 snow and prolonged frost intensify the 

 struggle for existence, even among these 

 vigorous animals of the mountain tops, 

 and in spells of severe weather they 

 descend some distance down the slopes 

 in quest of food and shelter. 



Ptarmigan frequently bury themselves 

 up to the neck in snow, leaving only their 

 beaks exposed. Sometimes, when over- 

 come by the cold and fatigue, the birds 

 become torpid, and remain entirely cov- 

 ered by the snow for several days. When 

 aroused by keen hunger they strive to 

 force their way to the surface ; but a 

 number of ptarmigan perish from ex- 

 haustion in the exertion to gain the 

 air through several feet of snow. 



Red deer are singularly weatherwise, 

 and when snow is threatening they come 

 down from the hilltops and lie in the 

 glens out of the force of the blast. In 

 Devonshire, the descent of the deer from 

 the high tablelands of Exmoor indicates 

 to the farmers an advent of snow and 

 frost. Like sheep in the snow, deer strive 

 to maintain warmth by huddling to- 

 gether in the shelter of a bank or under 

 the rocks, and the heat of their bodies 

 often prevents the snow from freezing 

 around them. A scanty picking of herbage 

 may be found here and there in hollows 

 and coverts, by scratching up the snow, 

 and the shoots of underwood, moss, and 



59 46 



leaves of evergreens provide meagre pro- 

 vender until the grass and heather shows 

 above the mantle of white. Where there 

 is a sufficiency of ivy in the woods, deer 

 will defy starvation in the most rigorous 

 of winters. Their hardships are, how- 

 ever, very severe when snow remains for 

 several weeks upon the low-lying country ; 

 and at such times, though not often, deer 

 will make a bold raid into the rick yards 

 of homesteads, and feed upon hay. 



Hares in snow-time often travel long 

 distances to obtain food. They resort to 

 the woods at the first sign of cold weather, 

 and find shelter from the snow beneath 

 thick brambles and holly bushes. Even 

 after sharp frost there are still a few 

 leaves on the bushes in the coverts, and 

 these and the bark of young trees afford 

 a diet in hard times. Hares will scratch 

 deeply in the snow to find turnip or cab- 

 bage crops, and they make their way by 

 night into gardens and nurseries where 

 there are shrubs and herbaceous plants. 



Rabbits fare better than hares when the 

 earth is covered with snow, as they possess 

 the shelter of warm burrows underground. 

 By dint of questing and scratching, the 

 coneys contrive to exist when many small 

 birds are starving ; but they have a keen 

 struggle, and their flesh is soon reduced by 

 spare feeding upon the bark of saphngs and 

 twigs of underwood. Rabbits are fortu- 

 nate, in time of snow, if they can dis- 

 cover fields of swedes and tiirnips from 

 which the roots were not Uited before 

 the hard weather. Sheep are sometimes 

 penned in these fields, and they soon thaw 

 the snow by constant trampUng. The 

 rabbits will venture far from their burrows 

 to forage in these root fields. 



Foxes do not suffer much priwation 

 when snow is lying. They may be forced 

 to change their hunting-grounds ; but 

 hares and rabbits, weakened by want, and 

 rendered somewhat less wary tlian usual 



