NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



A Dutch farmer friend in Natal with whom I 

 frequently stayed, and whose son for years accom- 

 panied me in my excursions in the wilds, was most 

 careful not to allow native birds to be persecuted 

 on his farm. In consequence,, the plantations 

 about the homestead were a paradise of bird life. 

 However, the Brown Rats in the shelters afforded 

 by the loose stone walls of the cattle kraals, and the 

 spacious outhouses, had been steadily multiplying ; 

 and, finding the farmer's grain insufficient for their 

 nightly needs, they began to forage further afield. 

 Climbing the trees in the plantations, they devoured 

 the eggs and young of the birds. We waged war 

 on these hosts of rats in every conceivable way, but 

 our efforts were unavailing, and, to our sorrow, our 

 bird friends and trusty allies retired a mile away to 

 a secluded kloof where this destructive rodent was 

 unknown. The rats then invaded the orchard and 

 vegetable garden, and dined upon vegetables and 

 fruit, and even the bark of the trees and shrubs. 

 An acre of pumpkins was ruined by them, for, in 

 their desire to get at the seeds within, they nibbled 

 holes through the pumpkin rind, and whenever the 

 skin is damaged in this way the pumpkin rapidly 

 decays. 



These rats, when pressed by hunger, enter hen 

 roosts and devour the chickens, and even carry off 

 the eggs in an unbroken condition, but just how 

 they manage the business is somewhat of a mystery. 

 It has been stated that the rat presses the egg 



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