NUMBERS OF THE FIELD-MOUSE. 19 



them whenever I wished ; and if I wanted a field- 

 mouse, seldom had to examine more than a square 

 yard of ground without finding one. 



They are very injurious little creatures, for they 

 are not content with eating corn, but nibble the 

 young shoots of various plants, and sometimes strip 

 young trees of their bark. 



Fortunately we have allies in air and on earth, in 

 the persons of owls and kestrels, stoats and weasels, 

 or the damage done by these red-skinned marauders 

 would be more than serious. 



Some idea of the damage that may be done by the 

 aggregate numbers of these small quadrupeds may 

 be formed from the fact that in Dean Forest and 

 the New Forest great numbers of holly plants were 

 entirely destroyed by them, they having eaten off 

 the bark for a distance of several inches from the 

 ground. And other trees were favoured with the 

 notice of the field-mouse, but in a different mode 

 Great numbers of oak and chestnuts were found dead, 

 and pulled up ; and when pulled up, it was seen that 

 their roots had been gnawed through, about two 

 inches below the level ol the ground. 



Various modes of destroying the marauders were 

 put in practice, such as traps, poison, &c, but the 

 most effectual was, as effectual things generally are, 

 the most simple. 



A great number of holes were dug in the ground, 

 about two feet long, eighteen inches wide, and eigh- 



