40 FARM VERMIN, HELPFUL AND HURTFUL. 



autumn, and nibble the cones of conifers in order to 

 get at the seed inside. During winter they also gnaw 

 the buds of young seedlings and transplants in the 

 nursery beds, and of young plantations up to about 

 ten or twelve years of age ; beech, ash, maple, sycamore, 

 and willow being the species of trees which seem to attract 

 them most, although in hard winters they will attack any 

 young growth they can obtain access to. In orchards young 

 stems up to two inches lin diameter at the base may be 

 gnawed through, and when the injuries have been inflicted 

 at from one to three feet above the soil, the damage is due 

 to mice and not to voles. Seedling growth in nurseries and 

 sowings is sometimes damaged to a greater or less extent by 

 the burrowing of these mice, although in this respect the 

 damage done is much less than by voles. Mice are chiefly 

 to be found on warm sunny exposures with a tangled soil- 

 covering of grass and weeds. They are not as prolific as 

 voles : the wood-mouse produces from four to six young 

 ones twice or thrice in the course of a year, while the field- 

 mouse produces from four to eight three times a year. 



The measures adoptable for keeping m.ice in check are 

 included in those which are noticed in Chapter VII. with 

 reference to voles ; but as the former always remain in the 

 woods, whereas the latter only migrate into them from the 

 fields in winter, the exterminative remedies are not generally 

 so effective. On the w^hole, the best way of keeping w^ood- 

 mice in check consists in the protection of their natural 

 enemies, such as the weasel, the fox, and the owl. 



