440 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



"I once saw a Stoat eat a Vole entirely, leaving nothing but the 

 inside (t. e. the entrails). In a general way they only suck the blood. They 

 have to be very hungry before they meddle with the flesh " (224). 



Another shepherd, John Inglis, of Ropelaw Shiel, on being 

 asked to what cause did he attribute the plague of Voles then 

 existing, replied : — 



" We think it is on account of the Weasels being so very sorely killed by 

 the game-tenant's keepers. That has allowed the Voles to breed to such an 

 extent " (273). 



James Hope, a shepherd at Medlock, after describing the 

 way in which Weasels and Stoats were caught in box-traps for 

 exportation, was asked whether he considered it a mistake to 

 allow them to be caught on the ground and sent out of the 

 country. He answered : — 



"Yes, certainly: I consider it a great mistake when it has come to 

 what it is " (referring to the plague of Voles). 



"Q — Because you consider they do so much good in killing Mice, 

 I suppose ? A.— Yes " (1104-1105). 



Mr. John Morton, tenant farmer at Nether Abington and 

 Elvanfoot, remarked : — 



" We are always glad to see a Weasel about the farmhouse. I insisted 

 upon the keepers protecting them near the buildings, because they killed 

 the Rats about the stackyards" (1255). 



Asked, "Do you advocate importing Weasels ? " he replied : — 



"Yes; I think that is one of the best things we could do. I would 

 willingly pay my share of the expense of importing them, if they could be 

 got anywhere. I have not seen a Weasel on my farm for some time. On 

 the neighbouring farm to mine I know that about half-a-bushel of Voles 

 were found lying dead round about the hole of a Weasel's nest" (1259). 



Mr. James Wallace, a tenant farmer, of Auchenbrack, thought 

 that " had the Weasels been as plentiful as formerly, the Voles 

 would not have been so numerous" (1972). 



These are half-a-dozen specimens out of nearly a hundred 

 answers given by local witnesses on hill-farms affected by the Vole 

 plague, 1891-92. 



Yet, notwithstanding the usefulness of the Weasel in killing 

 Mice and Voles, as deposed to by so many witnesses, there are 

 others who give orders for their destruction on the plea of their 



