ZOOLOGICAL 
SERIES OF RODENT-REPTILE CAGES IN THE REPTILE HOUSE. 
AN ECONOMIC RODENT-REPTILE 
COLLECTION. 
By Raymonp L. Dirmars. 
S an answer to an oft-repeated question— 
“Of what use are reptiles?”—a new fea- 
ture that is being rapidly completed in the 
Reptile House, will serve several purposes. In 
the first place it will present for exhibition for 
the first time in the Zoological Park, an elabor- 
ate series of the small gnawing animals, or 
rodents, a great number of the species of which 
are highly injurious to the interests of agricul- 
turists. Secondly, the exhibition will contain a 
large series of those species of snakes that prey 
upon the destructive rodents,—thus presenting 
for observation those serpents of marked econ- 
omic value. Finally, the entire series will stand 
as a clear demonstration of the perfect scheme 
of Nature in which the production of all animal 
life is balanced; for a part of the exhibition will 
be cages containing representative species of 
those mammals that, in turn, prey upon the ser- 
pents, thus keeping even the destroyers of the 
smaller injurious creatures within bounds. 
While this exhibition will be made a perma- 
nent feature, the character of the exhibits will 
be changed from time to time, as is the case with 
all of the smaller creatures displayed in the 
Zoological Park. During the present summer, 
both the injurious mammals and the reptiles of 
economic value will embrace species for the 
greater part inhabiting North America. This 
arrangement will be followed by an exhibition 
of Old World species. A few very striking Old 
World species will, however, be displayed dur- 
ing the present season. 
The smaller injurious rodents or gnawing 
animals of North America are many and varied. 
SOCIETY 
BULLETIN. 653 
Of the Sciuride, the Squir- 
rel Family, we have a very 
elaborate series comprising 
eighteen species on exhibi- 
tion in the Small-Mammal 
House. In the present eco- 
nomic series of mammals 
and reptiles, the Sciuride 
is being limited to the ex- 
hibition of those species 
really injurious to agricul- 
ture. The tree squirrels, 
genus Sciurus, cannot be 
properly embraced under 
this head. While the hab- 
its of some species might 
be rated as not friendly to 
the farmer, the various spe- 
cies have so rapidly decreased in number of rep- 
resentatives, that some of them are now actual- 
ly protected under the game laws,—this provi- 
sion relating particularly to the Carolina gray 
squirrel, (Sczurus carolinensis), it being now il- 
legal to keep specimens captive other than in 
zoological institutions, for public exhibition. One 
well-known species of the tree squirrel group 
that is rated as injurious, is the North American 
red squirrel, (Sciurus hudsonicus). Several re- 
lated species occur in the United States, Mexico 
and Central America. These smaller members 
of the group are notorious destroyers of birds’ 
eggs, and the recently hatched birds in the nest. 
Whether or not their habits are injurious to 
man, owing to their bird-destroying inclination, 
is a subject for considerable study; for it is 
SURICATE. 
