Page:VCH Northamptonshire 1.djvu/166

 A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE RODENTIA 22. Squirrel. Sciurtis leucourus, Kerr. Bell — Sciurus vulgaris. The squirrel is exceedingly common in this wooded county. In fact, in consequence of the dry warm springs of the last few years, more young ones have been reared than usual, and they have increased to the extent of be- coming a nuisance by eating the young fir trees, and have had to be kept under at Harleston Firs and probably other places. The only natural enemies they have to con- tend with are the owls, which not only take the young ones from the dreys, but kill and eat the old ones. I have an entire skull of a young one from an owl's pellet, and in other pellets I have come across quantities of the fur. In one instance Mr. C. E. Wright found the remains of an adult squirrel close to an owl's nest mutilated in a similar way to that in which they treat young rabbits, that is, with the flesh torn off the bones, which are usually left entire.* It is curious that there is no mention of the squirrel by Morton. 23. Dormouse. Muscardinus avellanarius, Linn. Bell — Myoxus avellanarius. The dormouse is another of those animals which with us are found most frequently in those woodlands which have survived from ancient forests. In Great Oakley Wood scores of the summer nests may be seen in the thickets. In Yardley Chase also I found one. These nests are often built under an old birds' nest, and Mr. C. E. Wright tells me of a remarkable one built on the platform of an old ring-doves' nest. In these nests the young are born and make their summer quarters ; in winter they hibernate in nests of moss beneath the surface of the ground. 24. Brown Rat. Mus decumanus, Pallas. This species is as common in Northampton- shire as elsewhere. I have found tails and mangled remains of young rats beneath rooks' nests. 25. Black Rat. Mus rattus, Linn. I can obtain two records of the old English rat. Mr. C. E. Wright informs me that some were killed in a granary at Kettering in 1 88 1. He has also seen the skin of one killed by Mr. W. Freeman at Denver, near Thrapston, in May, 1898. 1 A rabbit eaten by a fox is generally devoured skin and bones together, and one eaten by a cat has the skin turned inside out. 26. House Mouse. Mus muscu/us, Linn. This mouse we have ever with us, and its existence is too evident to need further com- ment. 27. Wood Mouse or Long-tailed Field Mouse. Mus sylvaticusy Linn. The long-tailed field mouse, or wood mouse, is very plentiful in the county. Owls con- sume a great many of them. 28. Yellow-necked Mouse. Mus Jlavicol/ls, Melchior. This mouse differs from the last in its greater size, and in having a broad band of yellow on its breast instead of a spot only of that colour. The only recorded specimen for this county came from Lilford, and its skin is now in the British Museum.^ 29. Harvest Mouse. Mus minutus, Pallas. This pretty little animal would seem to be now extinct in the county, the machinery used nowadays for cutting the corn leaving very little shelter for it. The late Lord Lil- ford once told me that he remembered the characteristic nests about thirty years ago in the neighbourhood of Lilford ; and Mr. W. Tomalin remembers to have seen the nests forty years ago on wheat stalks in the county. 30. Water Vole. Microtus amphihius, Linn. Bell — Arvuola amphibius. The water vole, so often mistaken for the brown rat, is plentiful along our streams, and needs no further comment. 31. Field Vole. Microtus agrestis, Linn. Bell — Jrt'ico/a agreilis. The field vole, or short-tailed field mouse, is abundant in all parts of the county, and I have frequently trapped it. According to Morton it was first described in this country by Ray. He says (p. 443) : ' The Mus agrestis capite grandi brachiuros, Raij. Synop. Quadrup., p. 218. The Short-tailed Mouse with a great Head. The Head indeed is re- markably large, as the Tail is Short. Mr. Ray, of all the Zoologists, is the First that has given us a Description of this Creature. 'Tis found with us in Oxendon Home-Closes, and in the Grounds at Kelmarsh, generally in the richer Sort of Pastures ; but it is not common. It nests under Ground, and is seldom or never found in Houses.' " M. de Winton, Zoologist, Dec. 1894. 132