THE SMALL-MAMMAL PROBLEM 737 



character ; hundreds of new factories (with, dwellings for work- 

 people), new docks, and even new towns came into being in 

 response to military requirements, and every addition of that 

 sort meant new quarters for rats and mice. In order to feed 

 our forces and ourselves, enormous quantities of foodstuffs were 

 imported, and warehoused in all parts of the country ; many 

 thousands of acres, previously untitled, were now brought 

 under cultivation, and in laudable endeavours to increase the 

 food resources of the nation, all classes devoted themselves to 

 the cultivation of allotments and the rearing of poultry and 

 rabbits. Such efforts greatly increased the food supplies 

 accessible to rats and mice. As the war developed, labour 

 was steadily diverted to military purposes ; scavenger, rat- 

 catcher, and gamekeeper disappeared. Regulations made 

 under the Defence of the Realm Act prohibited the use of 

 foodstuffs for the purposes of rat and mouse destruction. 

 By such means we gave rats and mice shelter, sustenance, 

 and. security on a scale of unprecedented lavishness. The 

 high fecundity of these creatures enabled or forced them 

 to take quick advantage of these favourable conditions, and 

 we were soon faced with grave peril. With the cessation of 

 the work of the gamekeeper, the native carnivora began 

 naturally to recover some of their lost numbers ; but their 

 relatively low fecundity, and the fact that they had been 

 brought so low by pre-war vandalism, prevented them from 

 increasing in ^due proportion with the increasing numbers of 

 the rodents. Besides, the accommodation for carnivora was 

 considerably decreased by the war conditions ; not only were 

 new towns and factories built in formerly wild districts, and 

 waste lands brought under cultivation, but much of the wood- 

 land, the natural stronghold of most carnivora, was destroyed. 

 The rapid growth of the rat population caused public 

 inconvenience and alarm ; heavy losses were inflicted upon 

 individuals and upon the State by the depredations of these 

 animals, and it appeared not improbable that they were largely 

 instrumental in disseminating various epidemic diseases then 

 ravaging the civil and military population. Towards the close 

 of 191 7 considerable outcry against these pests arose ; and was 

 met by the issue of emergency regulations by Government 



