84 THE INDUSTRIES OF ANIMALS. 



straw by turning the ear round and round between 

 their paws. When the grains come out they pile 

 them up in their cheeks, and thus transport them to 

 one of the chambers already mentioned ; they then 

 return to exploit the field and continue these labours 

 until they have completed the stores for winter. 



A certain Vole {Arvicola economus) acts in much 

 the same way as the Hamster, though he harvests a 

 different class of objects. It is not wheat which he 

 collectsbut roots. He has to find these roots, to dig 

 them up, to cut them into fragments of suitable 

 dimensions for transport, and finally to pile them up in 

 rooms disposed to receive them. This species, which 

 inhabits Siberia, measures about twelve centimetres in 

 length, but during summer and autumn Voles accom- 

 plish an amount of work which is surprising having 

 regard to their size. The moment having arrived to 

 think about winter, the Voles spread themselves about 

 the steppe. Each hollows little pits around the roots 

 he wishes to extract. After having bared them he 

 cleans them while still in position, so as not to 

 encumber his storehouses with useless earth. This 

 preparatory labour having been completed, he divides 

 the root into slices of a weight proportioned to his 

 strength, and carries away the fragments one by one. 

 Seizing each with his teeth, he walks backwards draw- 

 ing it after him, and thus traverses a long road, 

 crossing paths, going round tufts of grass or other 

 obstacles, not letting himself be rebuffed by the 

 difficulty and length of the task. Arrived at his hole, 

 he enters this also backwards, drawing his burden 

 through all his galleries. His dwelling, though the 

 entrance is rather more complicated, resembles that 

 of the Hamster. Like the latter, it is composed of a 



