MAMMALS. 39 



The Hamster (Cricetus frumentarius). — The Hamster has cheek- 

 pouches, and a very short, thick, but short-haired tail. It attains the 

 size of the brown rat. Bright yellowish brown ; belly and legs black. 

 The_ hamster is found almost exclusively on fertile soil devoted to 

 cultivation. It appears locally, and then for several years in great 

 abundance, so that it is often caught in tens or even hundreds of 

 thousands. Favourite food : wheat, field-beans, and peas, then rye 

 and similar grain ; and, last, roots, turnips, young corn-plants. Some- 

 times, too, the hamster eats animal food — worms, insects, lizards, small 

 birds, eggs, and mice. As a winter store it usually only accumulates 

 grain, beans, and peas in its hiding-place, often to the amount of more 

 than five gallons. A little heap of thrown-out soil marks on the sur- 

 face the position of its nest. The entry to this runs vertically down 

 into the soil. Six to twelve young, twice a year. The dwellings of the 

 hamster, which are situated in stubble-fields, can easily be found ; and 

 by digging them up, particularly in spring and late summer, when 

 there are young ones, the number of these destructive Kodents can be 

 greatly reduced. May be caught in traps. 



Genus Mus (Mice and Rats) includes Rodents with- 

 out cheek-pouches, and with long, scaly, ringed tails. 

 Two large species (" rats ") belong here, namely — 



The common Black Rat {M. rattus), indigenous to 

 Europe since pre-historic times, and the stronger, 

 somewhat larger — 



Brown Eat {M. decumanus), with greyish white 

 belly (while the first-named species is black on the 

 upper and only slightly brighter on the under side). 

 The brown rat migrated during the first half of the 

 eighteenth century from Asia into Russia, and about 

 the same time from Further India to England by 

 means of ships. Since then it has spread all over 

 Europe and other parts of the world, and in many 

 regions has quite driven out the black rat. Both 

 kinds of rat eat almost everything, and are a pest in 

 housekeeping, as well as in agriculture. They feed 

 on insects, mice, eggs, and chickens, will even bite 

 pieces from the living bodies of grown poultry and 

 tattening swine, and also devour young geese and 

 ducks. They eat grain, peas, beans, potatoes, carrots, 

 turnips ; bread, cheese, and similar provisions. Multiply 

 very rapidly. Can be driven away by clacking-mills, 

 and to a great extent by noise. Caught in traps. 



