INTELLIGENCE OF SQUIRRELS. 831 



It has usually been assumed that squirrels, and indeed most 

 rodents, feed wholly on vegetable food, and that in those instances 

 in which the contrary has been observed there was evidence of a 

 perverted or morbid appetite. Audubon and Bachmann, however, 

 state that the flying squirrel (Pteromys volucella, Des.) has been 

 caught in traps baited with meat. A number of writers,* espe- 

 cially within the past few years, have drawn attention to flesh- 

 eating habits in several rodents, mostly under peculiar circum- 

 stances. Some interesting questions arise in this connection: 

 1. In how far is any rodent carnivorous, when abundance of all 

 the different kinds of vegetable food that the animal uses is at 

 hand ? 2. What is the relation between confinement and altered 

 appetites ? 3. In how far are such altered appetites evidence of 

 morbid or perverted conditions, and in how far simply the expres- 

 sion of physiological needs ? The whole subject, I am inclined to 

 think, might be placed on a broad and sound physiological 

 foundation ; but, before that can be done, many accurate observa- 

 tions are required, and possibly also many series of experiments. 

 If we may judge by the common house rat, rodents possess un- 

 usual plasticity as to feeding and other habits, and not less as 

 regards their mental life. I found that my chipmunk would take 

 a great variety of foods, though the experiment of feeding with 

 meat was not tried. He drank milk greedily. 



There is one peculiar habit, interesting from a physiological 

 point of view, to be observed in squirrels in confinement. A writer 

 in " Nature " (vol. x ) says, " I have noticed that whenever it [the 

 squirrel] cleans itself, after licking, it sneezes violently three or 

 four times into its fore-paws, then rubs them thus damped over its 

 fur." And this writer raises the question as to whether this habit, 

 which he believes voluntary, was confined to squirrels. He does 

 not mention what sort of a squirrel his own was ; but I have 

 noticed this behavior as of most frequent occurrence in my caged 

 chipmunk. It seems to me, on the whole, most natural to con- 

 sider it a voluntary act of the same character, and possibly for a 

 similar purpose, as cleaning the throat in the human subject, or 

 perhaps even blowing the nose. And I am the more inclined to 

 believe that it is voluntary, from the account given of the flying 

 squirrel, as observed by Prof. G. H. Perkins and recorded in " The 

 American Naturalist" (vol. vii). This writer states that on one 

 occasion his squirrel lapped some ink, but shortly afterward 

 manifested disgust and indulged in violent sneezings. Under 

 these circumstances it is difficult to understand, by anything in 

 our own experience, how the act could have been reflex. 



Speaking of the relative intelligence of squirrels, this writer 

 says, " I am inclined to believe that the flying squirrel does not 



* " Science," vol. viii ; " Canadian Naturalist," vol. iii. 



