64 FARM VERMIN, HELPFUL AND HURTFUL. 



Voles. 



Voles differ from mice in having a broad, blunt head, 

 small ears hidden in fur, short legs, and short tail. 



All the species chiefly spend the day under the ground, 

 which they undermine in all directions. As their runs lie 

 close below the surface of the soil, they displace the tender 

 roots of seedlings in nursery-beds and in young crops that 

 are being raised by sowing. Their food being mainly 

 vegetables, they do no inconsiderable damage in picking 

 seeds out of the soil, in nibbling the stems of small plants 

 in nurseries and orchards during winter, and in gnawing 

 through roots when making their runs. At the same 

 time they do a certain amount of indirect damage by destroy- 

 ing young broods of insectivorous birds. 



The gnawing of the bark from the stems of young saplings 

 in winter is usually confined to within about a foot of the 

 ground, broad-leaved species of trees being attacked in pre- 

 ference to conifers ; the wounds inflicted occur generally in 

 irregularly shaped patches, although they not infrequently 

 extend like a ring round the stem. Owing to the difference 

 in the size of the teeth-marks, wounds inflicted by voles can 

 easily be distinguished from those made by hares, rabbits, 

 and squirrels. 



animals should have disappeared for so long from a district where there must alwa5^s have 

 been sufficient wood to shelter them, and where, of late 3^ears, they have been spreading so 

 vigorously and extensively. In order to diminish their numbers, and thus in some measure 

 save the plantations from their attacks, premiums have been offered. j\Ir. Stables, Lord 

 Cawdor's agent, in kindly furnishing me with the following memorandum of the squirrels 

 killed on the Cawdor property, tells me that it is only b}^ shooting that their number can 

 be reduced. A terrier dog is very useful, as it runs the scent to the trees they have gone up 

 and barks very keenly, giving notice to the man in search of them. Note of the number of 

 squirrels killed on the Cawdor plantations : — 



In 1862 .. 469 In 1867 .. 1,164 



1863 . . 617 186S . , 1,095 



1864 .. 468 1869 .. 503 



1865 .. 609 1870 .. 867 



1866 .. 779 J 



Mr. Stables remarks that the number killed each year depended a good deal on the 

 qualifications of the men employed, and on the price paid for each tail." — From Antinnns 

 ontheSpey. — Editor. 



