The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-07

rodents, which are preyed upon to some
extent by the armadilloes. That these
queer and clumsy animals should be capa-
Bile mousers is hard To realize, but such Is
the fact. One of the most curious meth
DDS adopted for fighting these vermin Is
TO scatter about mixture Of powdered
burnt gypsum and dry wheat meal, to
which sugar and little aniseed oil are
added. The mice eat the stun with avid
ity When taken into the stomach it
combines with the gastric juices to form
solid ball and Mr.. Mouse dies OF indi-
getion.
In F'ranconia, Germany, the farmers
catch the mice alive and smear them
with mixture of cart grease and fish
oil, afterward letting them run free. The
odor OF this preparation is so offensive to
the animals that they leave their bur-
rows and are easily killed, while 1t is
said that many actually run themselves
TO death. One efficient, though costly,
remedy is the digging of pitfalls, wider at
the bottom than at the top, into which
the mice fall. Being unable to get out
they die Of hunger Cats have been en-
ployed to destroy them, while terrier
dogs are even more effective An active
man armed with spade can Stay
thousands in a day in an infected dis
trfct Poisons have not been found to
gerous to domestic beasts.
ANOTHER METHOD ADOPTED.
Another method adopted is 10 scatter
small haycocks over the land, which at
tract numbers of the mice for shelter
Around the haycocks bitches are dug and
then fire is set TO the hay. The animals
jump into the bitches and are readily de-
stroyed. On a single large estate in
Saxony 100000 of the little pests were
killed in seven weeks, and delivered to a
manure factory, which paid for them at
the rate Of cent for eight dozen. Several
meteorological experts have suggested
that field mice might be inoculated with
anthrax or scab. The latter disease, it
has been urged, could be propagated
among them without difficulty Unfortu-
nately, the failure of Pasteur's attempt
to infect the rabbits Of Australia with
fatal and contagious complaint has
thrown discredit on such experiments
In Thessaly the resident Turks regard
the mouse plague as visitation Of God,
and are indisposed to adopt any remedial
measures. During their recent affiiction
they sent messengers TO Mecca to fetch
holy water for sprinkling on the fields.
IL Is reckonedsthat two-thirds Of the
bumblebees in Great Britain are de-
stroyed by field mice. The latter eat the
honey stored by those insects and so
starve them. Now, 1t is literally true
that any one who kills cat is upsetting
the natural balance of life to an extent
which will have an unfaYorable effect on
the productiveness of garden and field.
Pussy's death permits more mice to live
They wipe out the bumblebees, on which
clover and many other plants absolutely
depend for their fertilization. In the abb
sence of the bumblebees these plants do
not ripen seed, and thus the next crop is
affected.
VERY REMARKABLE ANIMALS rl.a
Very nearly related to the Aeld-mice
are the Jennings, which are IN their way
among the most remarkable of animals.
They are about five inches long, with
very short tails Dwelling in the high
lands of the great central mountain chain
Of Norway and Sweden, they build their
nests of straw lined with hair, under
stones and tussocks of grass. They are
very pugnacious When disturbed, in
stead of trying TO escape, they sit upright,
kissing and showing tight. Certain Guilt
waited districts Of Sweden and Norway
where these creatures are ordinarily UNI
known, are occasionally, at intervals Of
from five TO twenty-five years, overrun by
armies Of them, which steadily and
slowly advance, always In the same direc-
ton, regardless ofall obstacles, swimming
across streams and even lakes several
miles in breadth and committing great
devastation. In turn they are pursued