The Somerset reporter., 1906-07-19
Meadow Nice.

Will i4ff ~ iAFHi4H dIt4 fltd 4BHb IlI IL
the sunmef, ana come ntD Tire orchards
in the winter and do much harm grid
iag young appte trees lie results Of
the search are printed Ia the secretary's
report, which Is now ready for distrbut-
ION. he story II an lDferesting one
Meadow nice were residents IF Amer
lea before Columbus OF Lei Erickson
thought + crossing the Atlantic, and
probably before the first American Ind
Ian croksed BebriDg strait from Asa
10 iaska. These mammals we're beyond
DOUBT the same then as they are today.
They lived among tie tai grasses By the
aides Of streams. moving back % higher
lands when the freshets came, and v len
they were hungry they fed from robfs
and buds and banks tie way they do
now, though their chief and faYorlte ar
ucie OF diet has always been the seeds
OF rank grasses which thrive and made
dense mats on the rich muck lands by
the sides of sluggsh streams Then as
no~, these meadow mice were caught
and eaten by foxes, weaseis. minks, OF
ters, hawks, owls, skunks, crows, jays
and other creatures. Until the white
man arrived and disturbed the balance
Of nature" there was no complaint, ap-
parentiy, about their depredations. No
where In Indian tradition or story is
there any mention made about the harm
wrought by meadow mice
But according TO careful estimates
made by the orchardists, these meadow
mice girdled and killed apple trees in
Maine valued at more than quarter Of
million dollars in the winter of 1904-5
The reason for this is easy to under
stand. The Indians did not try to inter-
iere with nature. They killed what
buffalo and deer and moose they wanted
to eat and no more. They passed no
game laws, and had no game wsrdens,
but they were not hogs, and 80 long az
they could find what fish and game they
needed by small effort they mad 10 need
to butt in" The white man was differ
ent. He plowed the meadow lands and
planted them to crops BE moved the
meadow grasses and put them in barns
and stacks TO be fed out TO cattle in the
cold months. In a century or 80 the
[ aucasian race had ruined all the natur
al feeding grounds of the meadow mice
and compelled them to invade the grain
fields and grass fields and corn fields 10
keep from starving.
AS if this interference were not
enough, the white man went further
and killed off the hawks and owls and
crows and skunks and other creatures
which fed on Meadow mice, thus per-
hitting the pests 10 breed abupdantly
and creating menace 10 farming OPP
erations. Having kindly invited the
meadow mice to come and make their
homes on the farm, the white men
went and shot aad trapped all the nat
ural enemies of the mice, and gave
them a free hand. Any animal which
| would not take over a monopoly of
! the agricultural business under condi-
tioas of this kind is not fitted to live
in cold and cruel world. The meadow
mice saw their opportunity and used 1t.
| How we'll they have used it of late every
Maine farmer can tell, and if he swearE
in the telling, the added words simply
show bow he feels concerning the mat
ter
The Washington experts have discov-
cred several things that are interesting
to the general public. For instance.
they have learned that when meadow
mice become very abundant and are
congested in narrow localities, a fear
full malady breaks out among them,
which Stays them by millions. Now the
! learned bacterioligists OF France have
studied this mouse malady. named it,
discovered the bacilli which causes ii.
and made cultures of the germs, so il
some of these germs are placed in meal
and fed to healthy mice, the animals be-
come sick and die at once. To the IN
scientific reader this would seem to
have solved the entire problem. When
/ fields are infested with meadow mice,
get a bottle of snti-mouse germs, mix il
with meal and scatter the preparation
1 al ri. hn Yrfa OH nd RfaF
/ please go slow here. The germs which
4 kill mice will also slay hsres and rab-
bits and squrrils and guinea pigs and
certain breeds of farmyard poultry. In
fact, the exact range of the mouse killer
has not been learned. OF course it will
never do to have a mouse that has died
| from these germs eaten by a wandering
mother hen, and then spread death
and destruction among the poultry
yards of the country, thus depriving
mankind of new laid eggs and custard
pies and spri chickens
Therefore the Washington experts
do not advise the farmers of Maine and
elsewhere to invest in the new mouse
killer, fearing the remedy may do
more harm than the disease Instead,
they AJAX that hawks, owls, crows,
skunks and other creatures that feed
on meadow mice receive protection, so
/ they may multiply and eat the surplus
mice, thus saving the young orchards
/ from death and contributing largely TO
the morality of the farmers. More
than this, it 10 suggested that all swale
| grasses and small bushes near the
fields and orchards be moved and
/ burned. 80 the mice can find no shelter
from their foes. Poison may be adj
ministered discretely. too, in exception
al cases, though less drastic measures
should be tried before taking any heavy
risk - Bangor NelrS.