THE SHORT-TAILED FIELD VOLE 



the last serious one being that in Scotland in 

 1891-92-93— ' the grazing lands of southern 

 Scotland were afflicted to an extent involving 

 an area of not less than sixty miles by twelve 

 to twenty.' ^ 



The end of these plagues is always the same : 

 disease breaks out among the voles, they die by 

 hundreds and scores of hundreds, the birds of 

 prey that have gathered from afar find food 

 growing scarce and depart for their homes, 

 and the dwindling mice get fewer and fewer, 

 so that at last they are reduced not only to 

 their usual numbers but far below. 



Frosty winters, when all grass and green 

 food is dry and frozen, do much towards keeping 

 field voles from getting too many. Snow they 

 do not mind, it keeps their burrows snug and 

 warm, and they can tunnel beneath it in search 

 of food in peace and safety ; but dry ' black ' 

 frosts are much more serious for them, and 

 after the long hard winter of 1916-17 there 

 was not a colony of voles to be found about my 

 home. As a rule there are plenty, even in the 

 garden, where they have their headquarters 

 in a rough bank. This bank is planted with 

 daffodils and narcissi, and the grass is not cut 



' Barrett-Hamilton, British Mammals, p. 460. 



271 



