334 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



"Two larvae of some wood-boring Coleoptera which will 

 have to be developed so as to determine the variety; parts 

 of wing-case of cockroach, common in woods in moist places. 



*' I could not find any parasitic animals that would cause 

 the Squirrels to forsake their nest, and if such is the case they 

 migrate with them or leave the nest when the host has disap- 

 peared." 



In the spring of 1908 I noticed that there were no Squirrels 

 about this nesting box. On May 13 I climbed up and found 

 the reason; it was crammed to the roof with dung pellets, a 

 disgusting mass, which left no room for a nest. 



sANiTA- The pollution of the nest with excrement is a black mark 



against the Red-squirrel, and shows that it has not yet attained 

 the rudiments of sanitation. In this department the lowest 

 animals are those that void their dung wherever they happen 

 to be, even in their nests. But the sanctity of the home is 

 essential to uplift, and the next step is seen in those that leave 

 the nest, but void the waste anywhere near. Flying-squirrels 

 and Ground-squirrels illustrate this. A new advance is 

 marked by those which have special places for the product. 

 Of this class are the Field-mice with their open midden-heaps. 

 The highest types are represented by the cats, which bury 

 their dung with scrupulous care each time, and the Pocket- 

 gophers, which construct underground cesspools, on the earth- 

 closet principle. The Deer, having no home place or nest, 

 need no sanitation, and have not developed at all in this 

 direction. But the Red-squirrel is inexcusable. It has a 

 home and does not trouble to keep it clean. 



GOVERN- Though unacquainted with the first principle of sanitation, 



the species has developed some of the fundamentals of govern- 

 ment. It will fight bravely for its food tree, for its territory, for 

 its nest and, as we have seen, for its mate. Caught trespassing, 

 however, on the domain of the neighbour, it will act in a cow- 

 ardly manner that contrasts sharply with the behaviour when 

 defending its own. 



