f502 ANNUAL EEPOET SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 192 8 



through — except in his sleeping chamber, where I eventually had to fit a 

 piece of tin to stop him. His idea was probably to enlarge the chamber and 

 not to escape. His teeth were always in good condition, but his claws used to 

 grow long and curved inwards, so that I had to cut them every few months. 



Up to his fifth or sixth year his activity was as great as ever. Then he be- 

 gan to show signs of age. In his youth he used to leap straight into the door 

 of his bedroom ; later I set a branch diagonally from a lower corner of the cage 

 up to the door, and for a long time he could climb this nimbly enough. As his 

 infirmities increased he gave up his circling exercise and at last I had to re- 

 place the branch with a flat board with grooves cut across it, up which he used 

 to hobble to bed. 



The direct cause of his death I think was lead poisoning contracted from 

 some freshly painted furniture which was placed near his cage to dry. He may 

 have reached out and licked the paint, or perhaps the fumes were enough to 

 kill him in his decrepitude. As well as I can remember, he was in his ninth 

 year when he died. 



PERIODS or ACTIVITY 



The red squirrel in Ontario is active at all seasons, except for per- 

 iods of a day or two at a time in extremely stormj^, cold weather in 

 the winter. Merriam says of it in the Adirondacks : " He remains 

 active throughout the continuance of excessive cold. When fierce 

 storms sweep over the land he retires to his nest, to appear again 

 with the first lull of the wind, be the temperature never so low." 

 Dice (1921), however, reports that in Alaska "When the temper- 

 ature drops below —30° F. very few squirrels are active and they 

 become dormant at lower temperatures." 



The red squirrel's daily period of activity in summer is usually 

 from sunrise until twilight. I have found that very few are about 

 earlier than sunrise, and I have never seen one abroad after dark. 

 Others, however, report that these squirrels are sometimes active 

 at night. Merriam (1884) says "He may sometimes be discovered 

 in the darkest hours of the night, stealing softly over the ground — ■ 

 bent, doubtless, on some errand of dubious propriety. Moonlight 

 evenings he is often active, though not so noisy as during the day, 

 and in early autumn vies with the flying squirrel in nocturnal nut- 

 husking exploits." Nelson (1918) states that it " sometimes continues 

 its activities during moonlight nights, especially when nuts are ripe 

 and it is time to gather winter stores." Judging by the two squir- 

 rels I have had under constant observation, this species is not an 

 early riser in the winter, as neither of them put in an appearance at 

 their tree, around which much food was stored, until well after 

 daylight. 



BESTING 



The red squirrel is usually spoken of as being " constantly active," 

 but this is not absolutely correct, as both individuals which I have 

 observed closely rested for a time each day in spring, summer, and 

 autumn, the period of rest, and sometimes of sleep, being usually 



