"Animal Life of the British Isles" by Edward Step. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.
Оглавление
Step Edward. Animal Life of the British Isles
Animal Life of the British Isles
Table of Contents
PREFACE
INTRODUCTORY
INSECT-EATERS: MOLE, SHREWS, AND HEDGEHOG
FLYING MAMMALS: BATS
FLESH-EATERS: FOX, BADGER, OTTER, WEASELS, MARTENS, AND WILD CAT
GNAWING ANIMALS: RABBIT, HARES, DORMOUSE, VOLES, MICE, RATS, AND SQUIRRELS
HOOFED ANIMALS: RED DEER, FALLOW DEER, AND ROE DEER
LIZARDS AND SLOW-WORM
SNAKES
AMPHIBIOUS ANIMALS: FROGS, TOADS, AND NEWTS
CLASSIFIED INDEX
INDEX
Отрывок из книги
Edward Step
A Pocket Guide to the Mammals, Reptiles and Batrachians of Wayside and Woodland
.....
Why has he come up? We can only surmise that he is satiated with the luscious earthworms and beetle grubs that live under our lawn, and is looking around for some more substantial fare—a dead bird or mouse, perhaps, for he is by no means averse from picking bones for a change, though his structure makes it impossible for him to catch any of the vertebrates alive, but he can kill and eat a smaller or weaker Mole, and has been reported to attack birds, lizards, frogs, and snakes; he will not touch vegetable food. His appetite is almost insatiable, and there is little substance in his underground fare, which impels him ever to increase his sources of supply by boring fresh runs. There! your movement alarmed him, and he has dived to earth again in the soft mould of the border.
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. When these are of the bent hazel rod and noose variety we may find the trapped Mole swinging from the rod that has straightened itself, and can then indulge in a close inspection of his form and structure. In pasture-land the mole-hills often appear to occupy more space than the intervening surface.
