Notes on the Habits 



of 



Mice, Moles and Shrews. 



(A PRELIMINARY REPORT.) 



INTRODUCTION. 



On every ordinary farm in West Virginia there is a host of 

 little mammals that live in nests, runways and burrows above, 

 or just below, the surface of the ground. These mammals repre- 

 sent the smallest of our fur-bearing animals and comprise several 

 species of mice, moles and shrews. Including the common house 

 mice, the white-footed or deer mice, and the jumping mice, which 

 only occasionally use the surface or underground runways, we 

 have within the borders of the state not less than fifteen distinct 

 species of these little mammals. 



The several species which for the sake of convenience are 

 here grouped together, in reality represent two widely separated 

 classes of animals. All the true mice are rodents, or gnawing 

 animals, of the order Glires and are both herbivorous and carniv- 

 orous in their feeding habits. The group is represented by such 

 larger animals as rabbits, squirrels and woodchucks. The moles 

 and shrews belong to the order Insectivora and in feeding are 

 almost strictly carnivorous. They have no very near relatives 

 among the larger mammals but in a general way may be likened 

 to the minks and weasels. 



