THE PERSISTENCY OF PESTS 



The snow crust, which walls the quail 

 in a living tomb, makes a royal banquet- 

 ing hall for the pestiferous field mice, 

 where they feast and revel in plenty, 

 secure from all their enemies, feathered 

 or furred. It impounds the deer, but 

 gives free range to the wolf and to his 

 as pitiless two-legged brother, the crust 

 hunter. 



The wet seasons that drown the cal- 

 low woodcock and grouse work no harm 

 to the ravenous brood of the hawk and 

 owl, nor to the litter of fox, mink, or 

 weasel. Wet or dry, hot or cold, the 

 year fosters them throughout its varied 

 round. 



Winged ticks kill the grouse, but the 

 owl endures their companionship with 

 sedate serenity and thrives with a swarm 

 of the parasites in the covert of his 

 feathers. 



The skunk has always been killed on 

 sight as a pest that the world would be 

 the sweeter for being rid of. In later 

 years the warfare against him has re- 

 ceived an impetus from the value of his 

 fur, but though this has gone on relent- 

 lessly for many years, his tribe still live 

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