SUPPRESSION OF RODENTS 185 
wildeats, all the weasel-tribe, and the brown rat, 
one of his few commendable traits. 
Bears, the puma and the wildcats, foxes and 
wolves, all subsist largely on mice and ground- 
squirrels. Dogs frequently follow their mas- 
ters to the field at plowing and harvesting, 
ready to pounce upon every mouse or gopher 
uncovered; and they sometimes become very 
fond of both the prey and the sport and hunt 
independently. Some cats are good mousers, 
and in places live largely on wild game; but 
unfortunately they also learn to destroy song- 
birds and game-birds, and their nests. The 
ordinary farm cat is a terrifically destructive 
animal, and when it develops hunting pro- 
clivities it should either be reformed, or belled 
or killed. Rats kill many mice, in the fields, 
as well as about houses, forcing their way into 
their burrows. Even the ferocious little shrews 
may do so, dashing fearlessly at one twice the 
shrew’s size. , 
The weasel tribe the best police. The most 
efficient check upon the over-production of ro- 
dents, however, so far as mammals are con- 
cerned, is furnished by the tireless hunting of 
