Edward Step

“ To a person uninstructed in natural history, his country or sea-side stroll is a walk through a gallery filled with wonderful works of art, nine-tenths of which have their faces turned to the wall. Teach him something of natural history, and you place in his hands a catalogue of those which are worth turning round. Surely our innocent pleasures are not so abundant in this life that we can afford to despise this or any other source of them. ”

“ Instead of the moist and shining, bright-coloured coat of the Frog we have a dry, dull, pimply skin so strongly resembling the earth that he is frequently passed by as a lifeless clod. That is one of the Toad's strong points; and he has the patience to squat motionless for hours, tiring out any enemy that looks for movement as proof of life. ”

“ The most familiar, the most widely distributed and most numerous of the mammals of our country, the Common or House Mouse, stands in little need of nice description. Although of a timid and retiring nature, it can on occasion exhibit not only bold familiarity, but actual friendliness to mankind to which it has been attached for ages, preferring to live in palace or hovel with human beings to the open-air life of woods and fields. ”

“ When all the tadpoles have become real little Frogs, with their legs sufficiently firm to enable them to indulge in hopping exercises, they still for a time venture no further than the very shallow water at the extreme edge of the pond, where they can walk partially submerged. Then one day there comes a heavy summer rain storm—a deluge on a small scale. Every little Frog then appears to hear the word "Go!" for with one impulse they all scramble out of the pond into the jungle of wet grass, they know not whither. ”

“ Every one is familiar with the diagrams of what was styled fancifully the Mole's Fortress, as though it were a stronghold held by force against an enemy. There is really no more reason for calling it a fortress than for applying the same term to a Rabbit's burrow or a bird's nest. ”

“ When the Weasel has failed by stalking or hunting such prey to secure a meal, he is known to resort to "charming" tactics. In full view of a hedgerow where small birds are numerous, he will throw his body into snake-like contortions to attract their attention. They become fascinated and curious, and though apparently filled with fear, they approach nearer and nearer until one is close enough to be grabbed by the charmer. ”

“ If we bring a garden chair and sit quietly within range of the newest heap, our quiet watching may be rewarded by a sight of the clever little engineer, and we may be restrained from throwing stones at him by the thought that he is seeking to reduce the number of those worm-casts on the lawn that have always annoyed us so. ”

“ It is a very active Bat, flying over farmyards and gardens and about houses, frequently uttering its shrill little squeak as it snaps up the flies and small beetles, pouching and eating them without alighting. It continues its flight all through the night, and has a longer period of activity than any other species, for it leaves its hibernaculum in March and does not retire until winter has begun. ”

“ To break the continuity of scent, when he is leaving his form, and again when returning to it, he will suddenly turn at right angles to his former course and make a prodigious leap—fifteen feet or more—to the top of a bank, then take another long bound, perhaps into marshy ground where the scent will not lie, and repairing to the feeding-ground feel safe from being tracked by Fox or Polecat. He always adopts this leaping trick, also the plan of doubling on his track, which has been the admiration and vexation of the hunter from old times. ”

“ However slight may be their personal acquaintance with the Mole himself, his engineering work is only too evident to every possessor of a garden. He may, perchance, live in a neighbour's land, but from time to time we shall find some morning that he has driven a tunnel right across the lawn or the tennis-court, marring its hitherto fair surface with an ugly ridge and at intervals a little heap of raw earth. If we are sufficiently self-controlled to dissemble our inward rage, we may get some countervailing good out of the calamity. ”

“ It must, however, be admitted that any explanation ought to fit the case of the Hare which often carries its tail with the white underside exposed, but is a solitary animal with no companions to follow it. On the sand dunes the Rabbit's coat renders it invisible through harmony with the sand.
In the ordinary way of life the Rabbit is a silent animal, except that he gives vent to low growls and grunts to express anger or [Pg 117] pleasure; but when terrorised by the imminence of attack by a Stoat the Rabbit finds its voice and gives utterance to a loud scream of agony. ”

“ If one has the good fortune to get a good view of the Otter in such places it will be found to be a very different creature from the specimens in zoological gardens. The long, lithe body, clad in fine smooth fur and ending in the long thick tapering tail, gives it a very graceful appearance in the water; and, of course, it is a most expert and agile swimmer. The head is broad and flattened from above, the face short, the black eyes small but bright, and the short, rounded ears hairy. The ears are closed when under water. The legs are short and powerful, and all the feet are completely webbed. ”

“ The Water Shrew is our largest species, the length of head and body combined varying from three to three and three-quarter inches, the body of bulkier build than that of the Common Shrew, and the tail longer than the body. Its upper parts are dark-coloured—from slaty black to dark brown—and the light ashy grey or dirty white of the under parts appear pure white by contrast. The snout is shorter and broader than that of the Common Shrew; the small eyes are blue, and the ears, which are entirely concealed, bear a tuft of white hairs. ”

“ When all the legs are well out the form of the tadpole soon changes to that of the Frog, except that it has a long tail. You may read in some books that the tail is shed, but this is a mistake that no one could make who has watched day by day the evolution of the Frog from the tadpole. The tail is absorbed; it gets smaller daily, until finally the hind body is rounded off and there is nothing left to indicate that it once ended in a tail. Ultimately the Frog may attain a length of head and body equal to four inches. ”

“ Where—as in India—the Black Rat lives a more out-of-door life, it climbs trees and mostly makes its nest in them. With us the doe collects a good quantity of suitable materials—rags, paper, straw, etc.—and constructs a roomy nest which she uses for successive broods, which come at short intervals. Seven or eight is the usual number for a litter, and there are five or six broods in a year.
In the matter of food, both the Rats are omnivorous, and it is, therefore, useless to attempt to give a list of substances acceptable to them. ”

“ It is not only in the garden that we may see the Mole and his work. He is perhaps more active in the meadow and the cornfield, where he has a wider range for his long straight main run and the side runs that branch off from it. In either of these places he is actually much more of a nuisance than in our garden—difficult though it may be for the garden-owner to realise this. When the hay or the wheat has to be reaped the lines of hillocks across the field are an impediment to the reaping machines. So the farmer has to set traps to minimise the nuisance as much as possible. ”

“ The Fox is said to have a special and disgusting method of making the Hedgehog unroll when he is on the defensive; and a writer in The Field some years ago stated that when caught by the Badger the Hedgehog utters a pitiful wail, though he will permit himself to be torn to pieces by a terrier without a cry.
The male and female are known respectively as Boar and Sow, to carry out the idea that they are a lesser kind of pig. Though the males are very quarrelsome among themselves, they have the domestic virtue and mate for life. ”

“ The Grass Snake is our largest British species, full-grown females averaging four feet in length; the males a foot less. Exceptional examples are little short of six feet, and in Italy the same species attains to a length of eight feet. It is of graceful form, the body tapering gently from its middle to the very slender tip of the tail. The long, narrow head, covered with large shields, ends in a blunt snout, with eyes and nostrils at the sides. The rather large eyes have round pupils circled with gold and a dark brown iris. ”

“ The male seeks to excite the female by displaying his beautiful crest and his heightened colours; also by rubbing her with his head and lashing her with his tail. Then he emits spermatophores in the form of a mushroom-shaped gelatinous mass whose head consists largely of sperms. These sink to the bottom, whence the female takes them into her body. The eggs are, in consequence, already fertilised when deposited. They are laid singly against a long leaf of one of the pond-weeds—Anacharis, Callitriche, Water-moss, etc.—which is folded over by the female and adheres to the egg. ”

“ Our Bats are all nocturnal in their habits, though a few indulge in occasional flights by day. Most of them have definite hours for flight, the time depending upon the flight period of the insects they prey upon particularly. They retire for the day into dark situations, such as hollow trees, caves, outhouses, or under roofs. In these sleeping places great numbers often congregate, and several species may be represented. During bad weather—when, of course, their insect prey also remains under cover—they do not leave their daytime shelter. When asleep their body temperature falls considerably. ”