44 



common now than in early times, by reason of the clearing 

 away of the forests. In the fall these mice seek the cornfields 

 in great numbers and there do considerable damage to the 

 shocks of corn, especially if they are left standing for a long 

 time. As these mice move about by day as well as by night 

 they are the prey both of hawks and of owls, vast numbers 

 of them being killed. 



Microtus pinetorum scalopsoides (And. and Bach.). 

 Northern Pine Mouse. 



The Pme Mouse is occasionally found here and lives 

 chiefly on dry hillsides overgrown with long grass and cedars. 

 Its habits are probably very much the same as those of the 

 preceding species. On May 10, 1898, 1 received a female and 

 nest of four young from a farmer who unearthed them while 

 ploughing. I have frequently taken them from the house 

 cat, but have never caught one in a trap. 



Fiber zibethicus (Linn.). Muskrat. 



The periodical persecution by trapping to which this for- 

 merly abundant animal is subjected, is beginning to tell upon 

 its numbers in the lower part of the county. Here the 

 Muskrat no longer builds houses except where unmolested 

 and in very retired situations, but lives almost entirely hi the 

 burrows which it constructs in the banks of streams and ponds. 



In the upper parts of the county, this small beaver-like 

 rodent is still found in considerable numbers and is exten- 

 sively trapped for its fur, and a prime pelt is worth at the 

 present time about fifteen cents. 



The usual method of trapping is with a steel trap, placed 

 in the margin of the water at the entrance to the burrow or 

 landing place of the animal. The chain attached to the trap 

 is of sufficient length to permit the entrapped animal to 

 flounder off into deep water, where it soon drowns, but unless 



