THE CAMPAGNOL. 



563 



I shot a Water Vole as it was sitting upon a water-lily leaf and engaged in eating the 

 green seeds; and on noticing the kind of diet on which the animal was feeding, I deter- 

 mined to watch the little creatures with more care. My own testimony coincides pre 

 cisely with those of other observers, for I never yet saw the true snub-nosed, short- 

 eared, yellow-toothed Vole engaged in eating animal food, although the brown Rat may 

 be often detected in such an act. 



Many communications have been made to me on the subject, written for the most 

 part by persons who have seen water-side Rats engaged in catching and eating fish, 

 and have thought that the delinquents were the true Water Vole. Indeed, the Vole is 

 allied very closely to the beaver, and partakes of the vegetarian character of that 

 Animal. 



However guiltless the Water Vole maybe of piscicapture, it is not altogether a harm- 

 less animal, for independently of weakening the banks by its tunnels, it will sometimes 

 leave the water-side and travel some little distance across the country in search of 

 cultivated vegetables. One of these animals has been seen to cross a large field and 

 enter a garden in which some French beans were growing. The Vole crept up the 

 bean-stalks, and after cutting off several of the pods with its sharp and scissor-like 

 teeth, picked them up and retraced its steps to its home. 



The color of the Water Vole is a chestnut-brown, dashed with gray on the upper parts 

 and fading to gray below. The ears are so short that they are hardly perceptible above the 

 fur. The incisor teeth are of a light yellow, and are very thick and strong. The tail is 

 shorter than that of the common Rat, hardly exceeding half the length of the head and 

 body. The average length of a full-grown Water Vole is thirteen inches, the tail being 

 about four inches and three-quarters long. It is not so prolific an animal as the brown 

 Rat, breeding only twice in the year, and producing from five to six young at a birth. 



THE CAMPAGNOL, or SHORT-TAILD FIELD MOUSE, is even more destructive in the 

 open meadows than the common gray mouse in the barns or ricks ; for not contenting 

 itself with plundering the ripened 

 crops of autumn, it burrows be- 

 neath the ground at sowing time, 

 and devours the seed-wheat which 

 has just been laid in the earth. 

 Besides these open-air depreda- 

 tions, it makes inroads into ricks 

 and barns, and by dint of multi- 

 tudinous numbers does very great 

 harm. As its food is entirely of 

 a vegerable nature, it does not 

 enter human habitations, where 

 it would find but a poor chance 

 of a livelihood. 



The color of the Campagnol 

 is ruddy brown on the upper sur- 

 face of the body, and gray on the 

 abdomen and chest. The ears are 

 rounded and very small, closely 

 resembling those of the water 

 vole. The tail is only one-third 

 the length of the body, and the 

 total length of the animal is rather 



more than five inches. As it belongs to the same genus as the water vole, and is 

 very closely related to that animal, it sometimes goes by the name of Field Vole. 



It is a very prolific animal, and its numbers are almost incredibly great in districts 

 where no means have been taken for its destruction. Even in well-cultivated fields, 

 whether of grass or corn, the Campagnol may be found in vast quantities by any one 

 whose eyes are sufficiently accustomed to the task to distinguish the little creature from 



CAMPAGNOL.-Arv/co/a arvalis. 



