470 Report of Committee of the Teviotdale Farmers' Club. 



There the pasture is known by the name of "true bog," and the grass 

 destroyed by the mice is in the shepherd's vocabulary called " spret." It is 

 much relished by the sheep in April and May, and at the time of the commit- 

 tee's visit should have been about two or three inches long, and of fresh green 

 colour, affording a full bite till the later grasses come to maturity. In many 

 places, however, there are no traces of its existence as a living plant. 

 Instead of green herbage, there are large tracts covered with dead grass, the 

 tops of the plants cast aside by the vermin. Where it can be seen, the 

 young shoots are just beginning to appear above the ground, the tops bearing 

 unmistakable signs of having been nibbled. The mice eat it at the white 

 part just above the root, and though they do not in every case entirely des- 

 troy its vitality, they so retard the progress of the grass that it is not forth- 

 coming at the season when it is most in request by and indeed indispensable 

 to the healthy condition of the sheep. But perhaps the most striking 

 evidence of the mischief is found in the thick grass bushes known as " bull 

 snouts." An application of the hand or foot to these shows that their weight 

 only keeps them in their places, the vegetation connecting them with the 

 soil being completely severed by the mice. On removing them the bare earth 

 and withered stalks and roots are alone visible, varied here and there by the 

 reviving nibbled shoots already alluded to. All around, too, are traces of the 

 retreats where the depredators retire in the hour of danger, the surface of 

 the ground being literally riddled with holes, and presenting much the 

 appearance of ground in the neighbourhood of targets for rifle practice. On 

 repairing to the higher lands and among the " bents," where the mice are 

 now at work, similar evidences of their presence are to be seen, though the 

 havoc made there is not yet quite so considerable. It is conjectured that 

 they may not so much relish the food they get at the greater altitude, but it 

 is quite sufficient to sustain them till, if unchecked, the more favoured 

 pastures are again in readiness for them. The committee next visited 

 Craighope, where the same disastrous state of matters was apparent, and the 

 mischief is pretty equally distributed over the four farms mentioned. 



It is not too much to say that the vermin have destroyed 30 per cent, of 

 the grass which should now be available for the sustenance of the sheep. At 

 any time this would be a serious matter, but in the lambing season it is pecu- 

 liarly unfortunate, especially in a year when " lingering winter chills the lap 

 of May." The ewes are in such poor condition that they have little or no 

 milk for their lambs which, brought sick'y to the world, are perishing in 

 large numbers, and unless the unlicensed depredators of the pastures can be 

 extirpated, a considerable reduction of the numbers of the flock must be 

 resorted to as a prudential measure. 



The committee saw a few of the vermin on the uplands, but, quick of sight 

 and hearin.-, they made for their holes so rapidly that it was with difficulty 

 one or two were captured. They do not in all respects resemble either the 

 house or the ordinary field mouse. They are from three to four inches long, 

 with a short stumpy tail, have bright piercing eyes, and large ears almost 

 level with the fur. They are brown- coloured on the back and ash-coloured 

 on the belly. The stomach apparently contained vegetable matter only. 



