Northern Flying-squirrel 443 



downwards, and secured herself from falling by clinging to the 

 perch immediately above her head by her forefeet. This was 

 observed every day, and some days as frequently as eight or 

 ten times." [Nevertheless we must not suppose that this is 

 the normal attitude of all Canadian Flying-squirrels while 

 nursing.] 



*' Alter some time a pair of the young were given away to a 

 friend. The three remaining ones, as well as the mother, were 

 killed in the following manner: 



"The cage containing them was hung near the window, 

 and one night during the darkness a rat or rats (Mus decu- 

 manus) caught hold of the three young through the bars and 

 ate off all their flesh, leaving the skins almost entire, and the 

 heads remaining inside the bars. The mother had her thigh 

 broken and her flesh eaten from the bone, and yet this good 

 parent was so affectionately attached to her brood that, when 

 she was found in this pitiable condition in the morning, she 

 was clinging to her offspring and trying to nurse them as if they 

 had still been alive." 



Owls, Foxes, Martens, and Weasels are also to be num- ^^^ 

 bered among the enemies of this gentle creature. 



J. S. Charleson writes me that in January, 1905, T. S. 

 Kittson shot a barred owl in Riding Mountain, Manitoba, 

 and found in its stomach a Flying-squirrel. 



Professor Macoun tells me that in British Columbia he 

 once found the body of a Flying-squirrel in a trout. 



The hardiness of this merry night-prowler is such that, hardi- 

 although it ranges north-west as far as the Arctic circle, it is not ' 

 known to hibernate at any time. 



As Merriam says:^^ *'The mercury may indicate a temper- 

 ature many degrees below zero, or snow may be falling in 

 quantities sufficient to obstruct the vision, without seeming in 

 any way to dishearten this merry adventurer. The last rays 

 of the departing sun have scarcely disappeared from the western 



" Mam. Adir., 1884, pp. 206-7. 



