- I i 1 1 1 1 > i \ \ RAN8A8 " I : ' HA1 
already had begun to eat the bark on the trunk* of some <>\ the tr» 
and on tli«' Iotr limbs, and t<« cut 1 1 1»- tips of branches and »pr 
within their reach. Later, when cold weather net in and -now coi 
ered the ground, the} also seriously damaged the tre< 
White footed mice (Perot mivhiytiHetwi*) were especially 
numerous, l>ni stomach examinations of individual* captured revealed 
no evidence that they had eaten bark of trees. Skunks, short-eared 
owls, and marsh hawk- were common, no <l<>ul>i attracted to the 
vicinity by the abundance of mice. From the large number of partly 
devoured dead mice found In the burrows during poisoning opera 
tions, I ha»l reason to think thai shrews (Blarina, brevicauda) also 
were abundant. Of course living voles helped to devour the dead. 
Previous to my visit a force of men and boys had been employed in 
painting the trunk- cd' the tree- with a wash composed of soap, crude 
carbolic acid, and water. The efficacy <d' this wash as a preventive 
of attacks of mice or rabbits did not extend beyond a period of 
forty-eight hour-. 
On the evening of my arrival I placed wheat poisoned with strych- 
nine at the base of about 50 apple tree-. On the next morning a 
large number of dead voles and white-footed mice were found. So 
favorably were the owner- of the orchard impressed by the result 
that a force of men was employed to distribute poisoned grain 
throughout the orchard. 
The poisoning operation- in this orchard occupied several week-, 
and by January, L904, the mice apparently had been exterminated. 
Rabbits, however, continued to give trouble, and the campaign 
against them was continued for some time longer, with final success. 
A- a treatment i^v the trees injured by mice. I recommended the 
immediate covering of the wounds by mound- of -oil heaped up 
around the trunk-. The plan was adopted with highly satisfactory 
results. New hark grew wherever the cambium layer was not eaten 
completely through, and a great majority of the trees recovered. 
(PL VI, fig. -J. i Had their trunks been left exposed to the sun and 
wind-. <»f spring and summer most <»f them would have died. The 
number of trees actually killed by mice was not very great, although 
the growth of many was seriously checked. 
Although at tir-t the damages from mice seemed far more exten- 
sive than those from rabbits, the ultimate losses from them prob- 
ably were less. The wound- from rabbits were too high up to he 
Successfully covered with -oil. and no remedy other than wrapping 
with paper was tried. The difference in the character of the injuries 
by these animal- i- well illustrated by Plate VII, which -how- two 
dead tree: — one killed by mice and the other by rabbits. Plate VIII 
and Plate VI, figure •_!. illustrate Injured trees in the same orchard 
which have fully recovered. 
