562 THE WATER RAT, OR WATER VOLE. 



shift for themselves, an event which occurs in a wonderfully short time, they leave the 

 maternal home, and dig separate burrows. 



The strangest part of the Hamster's character is its dull, unreasoning ferocity which 

 is utterly incapable of comprehending danger, and causes the animal to attack any kind 

 of opponent, whether animate or not. An irritated Hamster will fly upon a dog, a 

 man, or a horse, without the least hesitation. If a cart were to crush it, it would try 

 to bite the wheel ; if a stone were to roll over it, it would turn upon the lifeless stone ; 

 threaten it with a stick, and it fastens upon the senseless weapon with malign fury ; 

 and when opposed by a bar of iron nearly red hot, it has been known to grasp the 

 burning metal in its teeth, and to retain its hold in spite of the pain which it must 

 have suffered. This combative disposition leads it to fight desperately with its own 

 species, caring nothing for sex or age ; and it has actually happened that when a pair 

 of these animals have been placed together in a cage, the male has been killed and 

 partly eaten by his disconsolate widow. 



The food of this animal is chiefly vegetable, but is varied by animal diet, such as 

 worms, insects, mice, small birds, lizards, frogs, and other such vermin. It is a noc- 

 turnal animal, and achieves its robberies under cover of the darkness of night. It can 

 hardly be termed a true hibernating animal, as it is quite lively for a considerable 

 portion of the winter, feeding on its ample stores for nearly two months, and becoming 

 very fat by the combined influence of inactivity and good feeding. Through a portion 

 of the winter it becomes torpid, but awakes early in the spring, ready to renew its 

 depredations in the fields. During the spring and summer months its food consists 

 chiefly of leaves and various herbage. 



WATER RAT, OR WATER VOLE.Arvlcola amphlbius. 



THERE are many animals which have been saddled with a bad reputation merely on 

 account of an unfortunate resemblance to another animal of really evil character. 

 Among these misused innocents the WATER VOLE is very conspicuous, as the poor 

 creature has been commonly supposed to be guilty of various poaching exploits which 

 were really achieved by the ordinary brown Rat. 



It is quite true that Rats are often seen on the river-bank in the act of eating cap- 

 tured fish, but these culprits are only the brown Rats which have migrated from the 

 .farmyards for the summer months, and intend to return as soon as autumn sets in. 

 The food of the true Water Rat, or Water Vole, as it is more correctly named, is chiefly of 

 a vegetable nature, and consists almost entirely of various aquatic plants and roots. The 

 common " mare's-tail," or equisetum, is a favorite article of diet with the Water Vole, 

 and I have often seen it feeding on the bark of the common rush. Many years ago 



