“For the hunter, I admit; but for the farmer it is quite another thing. Don’t forget that the hare and the rabbit belong to the order of rodents; they have incisors which spare nothing in the fields. If they were left to breed in peace they would prove a serious menace to our crops. History tells of countries so ravaged by rabbits that it became necessary to send an army to help the inhabitants get rid of them. We shall never reach that condition, I am sure; but it is no cause for regret that the eagle-owl, jointly with the hunter, keeps the animals within tolerable bounds. Moreover, the bird is very scarce everywhere. One pair of these birds in a year is the most that you will find in the mountains about here. An extensive hunting-ground is required by such big eaters if they are not to starve one another out. “I have a more serious complaint to bring against the eagle-owl: when it cannot find its favorite game—meadow-mice, field-mice, and rats—it contents itself with bats, snakes, toads, lizards, and frogs, and thus deprives us of some of our best protectors. Be assured, once for all, that while we have some irreproachable helpers, there are also others that from our point of view are guilty of a good many misdeeds. Bear in mind the mole, which throws up the earth and cuts the roots of plants in its war on insects. No animal gives a moment’s thought to man—except the dog, who is our friend even more than he is our servant. No other pays any heed to our interests; all work for themselves and their young. If their instinct prompts them to destroy only species harmful to us, so much the better: they are excellent helpers; but if they hunt both harmful and helpful species, we must balance the total good against the total harm that they do. If the good tips the scale, let us respect the animal: it is a helper. If it does more harm than good, let us declare war on the creature: it is a ravager. The eagle-owl catches in the fields such formidable hoarders of grain as field-mice and hamsters; in gardens, dormice and other lovers of fruit; in the neighborhood of our houses, ordinary mice and rats, and even the horrible Norway rat. There you have the plea for the defendant. On the other hand, the hunter charges the bird with killing a certain number of young rabbits incautiously taking a taste or two of wild thyme by moonlight, and with appropriating a few young hares that would otherwise be eaten by human beings. For my part, I accuse it of feeding its young on the serviceable toad, the useful snake, and the cricket-eating lizard. There you have the prosecutor’s charge. But, the balance being struck, the bird’s services are found to outweigh its misdeeds, and I declare that the eagle-owl deserves well of the farmer.” “It is a unanimous verdict,” declared Jules.