320 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



a sensitive part of the body. The kit- 

 ten plays with his and the mature cat 

 carries his erect in ordinary circum- 

 stances or lashes his sides with it when 

 hunting. Whether this forms part of a 

 signal code that exists between him- 

 self and other cats, I do not know, but 

 it is certainly possible — indeed prob- 

 able. 



I wish you would start a campaign 

 against the desertion of cats by their 

 owners in both city and country. While 

 I admit that in many instances the 

 tramp cat is a nuisance, I also claim 

 that it is an unnecessary condition 

 brought about by cat owners them- 

 selves. 



Sincerely yours, 



(Miss) J. R. Cathcart. 



Chipmunks as Pets. 



BY P. H- VAN HISE, SLaiMIjRLAND, BRITISH 

 COLUMBIA, CANADA. 



Several years ago I caught two chip- 

 munks in a box trap. In removing 

 them from the trap, I was careful not 

 to let them bite me, and after placing 

 them in a cage I put my hand on them 

 and found that I could pick them up 

 without being bitten. Since then I 

 have caught fifteen or sixteen, some in 

 the trap and some by chasing into a 

 hole with a dog, and taking them from 

 the hole with my hands. Of all these 

 only two bit me. If I gave them a nut 

 they would sit in my hand and eat it. 



We named one "Major," the other 

 "Colonel." 



Major took exercise by running and 

 jumping in the cage, while Colonel 

 would sit all day in a corner, but as 

 soon as I made a wheel for them Col- 

 onel took possession and would not 

 allow Major to run it. If Major did 

 manage to get in, Colonel would catch 

 hold of him and pull and scold until 

 he ran out. If Colonel wanted to take 

 a nap in the daytime, he would curl up 

 in the opening between the cage and 

 the wheel so that Major could not go 

 in. 



In the morning, as it began to get 

 light, Colonel would start to run the 

 wheel and keep it going almost all the 

 time until afternoon, when he would 

 run it only occasionally. In the sum- 

 mer he would get up and take a few 

 turns in the night. 



W^e had them for only a short time 

 before they would run all over us and 

 the dog, jumping from one to the 

 other. They did not like to stay out 

 for any great length of time ; they soon 

 would try to return to the cage. If 

 anything frightened them, they went 

 into the cage, as they felt safer there. 



I had a box, with a hole in one side 

 and partly filled with strips of white 

 rags, for their bed. When winter came 

 I put in more rags, some of which were 

 black. By morning they had pulled 

 out all the black rags ! 



Every fall they would save part of 

 their food to store in their bed. As 

 we took the box out of doors in the 

 dav and brought it back at night, thev 



TED LIKED TO HAVE COLONEL RUN OVER IIIM. 



