THE MUSEUM. 



151 



Fox Squirrel. 

 Sciiirus iiigcr hido?-tciamcs, Allen. 



Formerly a very abundant species 

 but since the time when every boy 

 •over 12 years old, has a gun. they 

 'have become scarce, as has all the 

 other game, furred or feathered. 



This squirrel does not imigrate. as 

 ■do the black and gray squirrels, I 

 think. But they have been gradually 

 ikilled off, until very few remain, and 

 it is difficult to secure a brace in a 

 ■day's hunt, the chances being even 

 against that score in my locality. 

 Rarely occupy nests; more often hol- 

 lows in trees. It is not an easy mat- 

 ter to overtake, and get a shot at one 

 of these big fellows. I have observed 

 one more than once leaping from one 

 tree to another in heavy timbered 

 lands, or among oak woods filled in 

 by second growth. To load your gun, 

 run among the trees, dodging about, 

 with the necessity of keeping one's 

 €yes constantly on the squirrel is a 

 very difficult matter. One shoots too 

 soon and the squirrel goes on, and 

 while one is reloading the old sly fel- 

 low has gained a good lead again, and 

 the first you know disappears in a hol- 

 low limb, when the hunt is up for that 

 ■day. 



The fox squirrel is very tough and 

 should not be fired at unless one is 

 within four or five rods. To shoot at 

 six rods or over is nonesense for even 

 if the squirrel is badly peppered the 

 shot only go just beneath the skin, 

 and if his lungs are almost torn to 

 pieces, he will often reach his hole. 

 I have seen one fall sixty feet, get up 

 and climb a tree to escape. The rifle 

 is the best means of success, if one 

 can catch foxy napping, when a well 



directed bullet finishes the business. 



A peculiar specimen now in my col- 

 lection, stuffed in 1873, is oddly 

 marked. It is a perfect fox squirrel 

 in form, but gives evidence of being a 

 hybrid. It is a fox squirrel in color 

 above, and sides, as well as tail, top 

 of head and outsides of legs. Its un- 

 der parts, however, are black, as well 

 as the chin, throat, belly, breast, and 

 inside of legs. It is a peculiarly 

 marked fox squirrel or else a hybrid 

 with the black. 



Flying Squirrel. 

 Sciiiropterus volans, L, 



A very interesting species. A resi- 

 dent, but rarely seen before late March 

 or after late October. A hybernating 

 species like the other squirrels. I 

 have met with them several times and 

 have found the young once when very 

 small and still with their eyes closed. 

 The young were so covered with pul- 

 verized dry bark, moss and fur pick- 

 ings that they were hardly detected in 

 the cavity. Nearly always found on 

 elevated land, but quite often in low 

 and timbered land. The nests are al- 

 most invariably placed near water, 

 either a lake or small stream. Three 

 or four young appears to be a litter. 

 Once found a nest containing three 

 old ones, a common occurrence at 

 some seasons of the year, but never 

 in the spring. This was in December. 



The young are born in the spring, 

 usually late April, through May, and 

 sometimes in June. The small ones, 

 looking, without hair, like the peculiar 

 extinct ptcrodiictylc, with its fleshy 

 membrane reaching from fore to hind 

 legs. A very interesting species, and 

 often tamed when it becomes a pleas- 

 ing pet, but usually escapes. 



