row. The legend states that, if the sun is shining and 

 the animal sees its shadow, there will be a eontinuation 

 of extremely eold weather for six weeks. On the other 

 hand, if the day is dark, the creature does not see its 

 shadow and this is supposed to be an omen of the be- 

 ginning of mild weather. However, the ground-hog 

 does not emerge from its burrow until the Spring vege- 

 tation has come to life. After a long Winter's sleep, 

 the animal is lean and demands an immediate food sup- 

 ply. In a normal season the female bears from three to 

 eight young in the latter part of April and, ofttimes, 

 when the mother is away on a foraging expedition of 

 her own, the young may be seen playing about the en- 

 trance of the burrow. The fur of the ground-hog, 

 being rather coarse, has no commercial value and, 

 while its flesh is relished by some people, it is not gen- 

 erally utilized as a food. Lacking these two qualities, 

 it is not generally sought after by hunters and trappers 

 and it has therefore been able to multiply in great 

 numbers. Its chief enemies are dogs, weasels and, oc- 

 casionally, foxes. 



The Eastern Chipmunk 



Tasmias striatus striattis 



The chipmunk is a splendid example of how cer- 

 tain forms increase in numbers when man is eliminated 

 from their list of enemies. While it is virtually a small 

 edition of a tree squirrel and is probably just as edible, 

 it is so small, fortunately, that hunters do not molest it 

 as a rule. Consequently, chipmunks abound in great 

 numbers and are familiar sights to almost every boy 

 and girl. The fact that they are gazed upon in a friend- 

 ly way, by humans, has caused them to exercise little 

 concern over the presence of a human in their haunts. 



->:>C 113 ><*- 



