History of British animals - University of Guam Marine Laboratory

Arvicola. MAMMALIA. FERA. 23The dormouse is about the size of the common mouse, but fuller ; the tailia about 2 J inches in length, covered thickly with long hair. Eats its fooderect. During winter it subsists on the store of nuts which it had preparedin autumn, and in very cold weather it becomes torpid.Gen. XXI. ARVICOLA. Vole.—No subsidiaryincisors.Roots of the grinders simple;there are three on each sideon both jaws.Tail round and hairy, and about half thediffer from— length of the body.The speciesof this genuswith which the older authors confoundedthe true mice,them, by the superior size of the head, the shortness of theand the coarseness of the fur.tail,34. A. aquatica.Water Vole.— Body 7 inches long;tail 3inches.Mus aquaticus, Men'. Pin. p. 167—Sibb. Scot. p.12—Mus amphibius,Linn. Syst. i. p. 82 Water Hat, Penn. Brit. Zool. i. 1p.18—Mus amphibius,Walker's Essays, p. 490. W, Llygqden y dwfr ; G, Radanuisque Frequent in the banks of rivers. Not in the Northern Isles.The males are greyish-blackon the back, the females yellowish-brown, withscattered black hairs, both light coloured beneath. Tail covered with shorthair, and ending in a small pencil. This species swims and dives well. Itseems to feed exclusively on the roots of aquatic plants, no remains of thebones of little fishes having been detected by us in its excrement, thoughsaid to prey on such. During the winter months, it retires to a cavity formedunder ground in a dry bank, in which it has previously deposited a stock ofprovisions. This consists in some cases of potatoes,as was observed by MrWhite, (Hist. Selb. i. p. 129.) and we have twice witnessed the same ; thing.In the end of July we have found the stomach of a young one filled withclover. It is probable that this species becomes torpid in the cold months.35. A. agrestis.Field Vole.— Body 3 inches and a halflong, tail 1^ inch.Mus agrestis, Ray, Quad. p. 218—Short-tailed mouse, Penn. Brit. Zool.i.p." 123. B, Llygoden gwlla'r maes. Vole-mouse in Orkney—Ingardens and meadows, common.This species never exceeds half the size of the former. The fur is brownerabove and paler beneath, the ears are longer in proportion and the ; tusks,which in the former are yellow, are in this nearly white. Doubts were entertainedby Linnaeus whether this and the former were distinct species.But in his description of his Mas terrestris (our No. 35.), he introduces several ofthe characters of the A. aquatica; and Pennant seems to have desciibed a youngone of that speciesfor the agrestis. The field vole is most destructive in gardensto seeds, especially to early peas, which, after germination has commenced,it scents out and digs up. The trap called by gardeners the FourthFigure catches them readily. It is equally destructive to young plantations,and to coarse pastures. It multiplies prodigiouslyin certain seasons, andcommits extensive ravages.In consequence of the progress of Society, one species has been extirpatedfrom the British Glires— the Beaver (Castor Fiber). This animal appears,from the testimony of Giraldus de Barri, to have existed only in one riverin Wales and another in Scotland in the 12th century, (Hist. Camb. lib. ii.