Creatures of the Night: a Book of Wild Life in Western Britain

Part 1

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CREATURES OF THE NIGHT

By the same Author.

IANTO THE FISHERMAN

AND OTHER SKETCHES OF COUNTRY LIFE.

Illustrated with Photogravures. Large Crown 8vo.

The Times.--"The quality which perhaps most gives its individuality to the book is distinctive of Celtic genius.... The characters ... are touched with a reality that implies genuine literary skill."

The Standard.--"Mr Rees has taken a place which is all his own in the great succession of writers who have made Nature their theme."

The Guardian.--"We can remember nothing in recent books on natural history which can compare with the first part of this book ... surprising insight into the life of field, and moor, and river."

The Outlook.--"This book--we speak in deliberate superlative--is the best essay in what may be called natural history biography that we have ever read."

LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET

CREATURES OF THE NIGHT

A BOOK OF WILD LIFE IN WESTERN BRITAIN

BY ALFRED W. REES

AUTHOR OF "IANTO THE FISHERMAN"

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 1905

MYFANWY AND MORGAN

"All life is seed, dropped in Time's yawning furrow, Which, with slow sprout and shoot, In the revolving world's unfathomed morrow, Will blossom and bear fruit."

MATHILDE BLIND.

PREFACE.

The Editors of The Standard have kindly permitted me to republish the contents of this book, and I tender them my thanks.

The original form of these Studies of animal life has been extensively altered, and, in some instances, the titles have been changed.

I am again greatly indebted to my brother, R. Wilkins Rees. His wide and accurate knowledge has been constantly at my disposal, and in the preparation of these Studies he has given me much indispensable advice and assistance.

Similarity in the habits of some of the animals described has made a slight similarity of treatment unavoidable in certain chapters.

I may also remark that, in unfrequented districts where beasts and birds of prey are not destroyed by gamekeepers, the hare is as much a creature of the night as is the badger or the fox.

ALFRED W. REES.

CONTENTS.

Part 2

THE OTTER.

THE HOLT AMONG THE ALDERS.

PAGE

Late fishing--A summer night--River voices--A master-fisher-- The old mansion--Lingering beauty--The otters' "oven"--Observant youngsters--Careful motherhood--The meadow playground--Falling leaves--A swollen river--Dabchick's oar-like wings--Mysterious proceedings--Migrating salmon--Hoar-fringed river-banks--An adventure with a sheep-dog--Slip-shod builders--Signs of spring--A change of diet--Fattening trout--The capture of a "kelt"--"The otter's bite"--Lone wanderings. 1-23

II.

THE POOL BENEATH THE FARMSTEAD.

A song of autumn--The salmon pool--Angling difficulties--Bullying a sportive fish--An absent-minded fisherman--At dawn and nightfall--A deserted home--Practical joking--A moorhen's fate--Playfulness of youth--The torrent below the fall--The garden ponds--Feasting on frogs--A watcher of the night--Hounds and hunters--Lutra's discretion--The spell of fear 24-40

III.

THE GORGE OF ALLTYCAFN.

The Hunt again--Fury of despair--A "strong place"--The terrier's discomfiture--Lutra's widowhood--Summer drought--Life at the estuary--Returning to the river--Scarce provender--A rare and unexpected sight--The blacksmith's baited trap--The Rock of Gwion--Peace 41-50

THE WATER-VOLE.

OUR VILLAGE HOUNDS.

Quiet life--Leisure hours--A winter pastime--A miscellaneous pack--The bobtail, and his fight with an otter--The terrier, and his friendship with fishermen--A family party--Expert diving--Hunt membership, and the landlord as huntsman--Fast and furious fun--A rival Hunt--The bobtail's death--The terrier's eccentricities--A pleasant study begins--Brown rats--Yellow ants--Brighteye's peculiarities--Evening sport 51-67

II.

THE BURROW IN THE RIVER BANK.

At dusk--A picturesque home--Main roads and lanes of the riverside people--A heron's alertness--A rabbit's danger signal--The reed-bed--The vole in fear--The wildest of the wild--Tell-tale footprints--The significance of a blood-stain--A weasel's ferocity--Maternal warnings--A rat-hunting spaniel--An invaded sanctuary--The terrier's opportunity--The water-vole chatters and sings--A gladsome life--Dangers sharpen intellect 68-82

III.

WILD HUNTING.

An otter-hunt--Fading afterglow--Spiritual influence of night--Lutra and Brighteye--Brighteye's song--Chill waters--A beacon in the gloom--A squirrel's derision--A silvery phantom--An old, lean trout--Restless salmon--Change of quarters--Brighteye's encounter with a "red" fish 83-98

IV.

SAVED BY AN ENEMY.

The "redd" in the gravel--In company with a water-shrew--Ravenous trout--The salmon's attack--An otter appears--Brighteye's bewilderment--Increasing vigilance--Playful minnows--A new water-entrance--The winter granary--Careful harvesting--The dipper's winter carol--The robin and the wren at vespers--Unsafe quarters--Rats on the move--A sequestered pool--Icebound haunts 99-115

THE COURAGE OF FEAR.

The dawn--Restlessness of spring--A bold adventurer--A sharp fight--Cleared pathways--Differences of opinion--A tight snuggery--In defence of home--A monster rat--Temporary refuge--The voles and the cannibal trout--Family troubles--A winter evening in the village 116-129

THE FIELD-VOLE.

HIDDEN PATHWAYS IN THE GRASS.

A pleasant wilderness--Pitying Nature--Hedgerow sentinels--The story of the day--Familiar signs--An unknown scent--The agony of fear--A change of mood--The weasel's raid--A place of slaughter--Autumn preparations--A general panic--Hibernation--Winter sunshine--The red bank-voles--Owls and hawks 131-150

II.

Part 3

THE VALLEY OF OLWEN.

The last of winter's stores--Renewed activity--The field-vole's food--A lively widow vole--An unequal encounter--First fond passion--Ominous sounds--A clumsy rabbit--An unimportant "affair"--An elopement--Nesting time--A fussy parent--A fox pays a visit--Also a carrion crow--Repairing damages 151-166

III.

A BARREN HILLSIDE.

A secluded pasture--Poachers and owls--An astute magpie--The vole a sire of many families--Plague--Nature's caprice--Privation and disease--Unexpected destroyers--A living skeleton--Starvation and death--An owl once more 167-175

THE FOX.

THE LAST HUNT.

A baffled marauder--The flesh of breeding creatures tough and tasteless--An unsavoury rat--The arrival of the Hunt--The fox sees his foes--The view-halloo--No respite, no mercy, no sanctuary--The last hope--A fearless vixen--Defiant to the end 177-193

II.

A NEW HOME.

Life in an artificial "earth"--Longing and despair--Contentment of maternity--Prisoners--A way of escape--Careless infancy--A precocious cub--First lessons--An obedient family--A fox's smile--Inborn passion for flesh--Favourite food of fox-cubs--The huntsman's desire 194-209

III.

THE CUB AND THE POLECAT.

Patience and watchfulness--How to capture field-voles--Winding trails--Ill-luck--A painful surprise--A fresh line of scent--Cost of a struggle--A luckless fortnight--The old hound and the "young entry"--A curiously shaped monster--Pursued by a lurcher-- Desertion--A vagrant bachelor 210-223

IV.

A CRY OF THE NIGHT.

The hunting call--A recollection--A joyous greeting--A woodland bride--The sting of a wasp--Preparation of a "breeding earth"--Meddlesome jays and magpies--A rocky fastness on the wild west coast--Vulp's retreat--The end of a long life--The fox's mask--Memories 224-240

THE BROWN HARE.

THE UPLAND CORNFIELD.

Midsummer--The leveret's birth--First wanderings--Instinct and teaching--The "creeps"--In the stubble--Habits change with seasons--The "sweet joint" of the rye--Lessons from a net and a lurcher--Rough methods--The man-scent--On the hills above the river-mists 241-260

II.

MARCH MADNESS.

March winds--Reckless jack-hares--Courtship and rivalry--Motherhood--A harmless conflict--An intruding fox--The faithless lover--Maternal courage--The falcon's "stoop"--The "slit-eared" hare--Countryside superstitions--On the river island--Patience rewarded--The hare as a swimmer--Bloodless sport--Habits of the hare in wet weather--The "form" in the root-field--Bereavements--Increasing caution-- Productiveness in relation to food--A poacher's ruse 261-277

III.

THE CHASE.

The basset-hound--Mirthful and dignified--A method of protecting hares--A suggestion--Formidable foes--"Fouling" the scent--A cry of distress--The home in the snow-drift--The renegade cat--An inoffensive life--A devastating storm 278-291

THE BADGER.

A WOODLAND SOLITUDE.

Part 4

Haunts of a naturalist--Why certain animals are unmolested--Means of security--Fear of dogs and men--A place of interest--The "nocturnal" instinct--Droll revelry--Serious pastimes--Teaching by reward and punishment--Animals study the disposition of their young--Voices of the wilderness 293-309

II.

HOME DISCIPLINE.

Unwelcome attentions--An old badger's watchfulness--A clever trick--A presumptuous youngster--Instructions in selfishness--Harsh measures--The badger and the stoat--A long ramble 310-324

III.

FEAR OF THE TRAP.

Wisdom in Nature's ways--The laggard of the family--A salutary lesson--Hand-scent and foot-scent--An old Welsh law--The lesson of a "double" scent--The sorrel as medicine--A wild bees' nest--"In grease" 325-339

IV.

THE WINTER "OVEN."

The vixen and the hounds--The wounded rabbit--Old inhabitants of the wood--In touch with enemies--Twilight romps--Brock's quarrel with his sire--A bone of contention--Prompt chastisement--A mournful chorus--Wild fancies of a bachelor--A big battle--The terror of the flock--Unwarranted suspicion--Caught in the act 340-356

HILLSIDE TRAILS.

The backward "drag"--Loyalty tested--A spiteful spouse--Spring cleaning--Carrying litter to the "set"--A numerous family--An eviction--Vulpicide--Important news--Old traditions of sport revived--A long day's toil--The secret history of a "draw"--An old burrow 357-373

THE HEDGEHOG.

A VAGABOND HUNTER.

The nest in the "trash"--Quaint wildlings--Neighbours and enemies--A feast--Spines and talons--The gipsy boy--A vagabond's sport--The nest in the wild bees' ruined home--Insects killed by frost--Winter quarters of the lizard and the snail 377-391

II.

AN EXPERIENCE IN SNAKE-KILLING.

An iron winter--March awakening--A coat of autumn leaves--The Rip Van Winkle of the woods--Sunshine and strength--Faulty eyesight--The hedgehog and the viper--Worsting an enemy--The moorhen's nest--Antics of weasels and snakes--The hedgehog's bleat--Odd and awkward courtship 392-406

NIGHT IN THE WOODS.

HAUNTS OF THE BADGER AND THE FOX.

Wild life at night--Long watching--A "set" with numerous inhabitants--The vixen and her cubs--Tolerant badgers--Vigilance--A moorland episode--"Chalking the mark"--Fox-signs--A habit of voles and rabbits--Patience, in vain--Sulky badgers--The vixen's lair--Foxes at play 407-426

II.

THE CRAG OF VORTIGERN.

Difficulties of night watching--Powers of observation in wild creatures--Night wanderers dislike rain--Eager helpers--A tempting invitation--Cry of young owls--Philip, the silent watcher--The fern-owl's rattle--The leaping places of the hare--Night gossip--The meaning of the white and black markings on a badger's head--The secrets of the cave 427-443

INDEX 445-448

FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS

From Drawings by

Florence H. Laverock.

Part 5

"THE BROAD RIVER, IN WHICH SHE HAD SPENT HER EARLY LIFE." See p. 50 Frontispiece.

"AN OPPORTUNITY CAME, WHICH, HAD SHE BEEN POISED IN THE AIR, COULD SCARCELY HAVE BEEN MISSED." To face p. 88

"THE BIG TROUT, IN HIS TORPEDO-LIKE RUSH TO CUT OFF BRIGHTEYE FROM SURE REFUGE." See p. 105 " " 104

"SHE WAS HOLDING ONE OF HER OFFSPRING BY THE NECK, IN PREPARATION FOR FLIGHT." See p. 139 " " 138

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