DAMAGE TO GAME BIRDS. 23 



On a level surface the rat rolls the egg before him, but he can easily 

 carry it between a paw and his neck and chin, while going upon three legs. 



A commission merchant in Washington relates that he once stored 

 in his warehouse 100 dozen eggs in a wooden tub with a lid of boards 

 nailed on. Rats gnawed a hole through the tub at the top and 

 carried away all but 28^ dozen, leaving no shells or stains to show 

 that any had been broken. 



Eats cause much annoyance and loss to poultrymen by their 

 destruction of feed put out for fowls. 



Rats are very destructive to tame pigeons, attacking especially 

 young squabs, but destroying eggs also. They often show great 

 cunning in finding entrances to the cages. A fancier residing in 

 Washington, D. C, missed many of his squabs and was satisfied that 

 the only opening by which an animal could enter was the exit at the 

 top of the flying cage. He closed the opening and set a trap there, 

 in which he caught a large rat. The animal had climbed the wire 

 netting on the outside and descended it on the inside to reach the 

 pigeons. 



GAME AND OTHER BIRDS. 



The rat is a most serious pest in game preserves. The propaga- 

 tion of game birds, both native and introduced, is now a promising 

 industry in the United States. The rat has already proved itself a 

 foe by destroying both eggs and young of pheasants. Abroad, the 

 game preserver regards the rat as the worst enemy of game. A 

 writer in Chambers' Journal says: 



In a closely preserved country at the end of an average year the game suffers more 

 from the outlying rats of the lordship than from the foxes and the mustelines together. 

 The solitary rats, whether males or females, are the curse of a game country. They 

 are most difficult to detect; for in a majority of cases their special work is supposed 

 to be done by hedgehog, weasels, or stoat. a 



Another writer says: 



There is little doubt that of late years the worst vermin with which the generality 

 of preservers have had to contend has been the rat. It has increased largely in num- 

 bers and in some districts become quite a plague, despite the extraordinary efforts 

 made to deal with its ever-increasing depredations. It is unnecessary to speculate 

 upon the probable cause of this remarkable increase. It is due entirely to the neglect 

 of farmers, preservers, and others to adopt adequate means to deal with the pest. & 



Our native game birds in the wild state are less subject to rat 

 depredations than imported species. The nests of ruffed grouse are 

 made in woodlands, which rats seldom invade The prairie hen and 

 related species generally nest in places remote from the usual haunts 

 of rats. The quail, or bob white, however, often selects a nesting 

 site within the summer range of rats, and many a quail's egg reaches 

 the maws of these animals. 



a Chambers' Journal, vol. 82, p. 64, January, 1905. 



b Practical Game Preserving, by Wm. Carnegie ("Moorman"), p. 349, 1906. 



