GNAWING ANJMALS RODENTS 103 



our pefc rabbits. Rodents usually have collar bones^ 

 and tlieir feet are plantigrade or nearly so. There 

 are five toes on each foot and each toe has a claw. 

 The upper lip is divided (hare-lip), which gives the 

 animal free use of his incisors for gnawing. They 

 are for the most part ground animals, though a few 

 live in trees and some are aquatic. Rodents form 

 the most numerous of the Mammalian orders and 

 have the widest geographical distribution. They 

 are found even in Australia, the home of the mar- 

 supials, but the largest and strangest forms are found 

 in South America. Four families of the order are 

 represented in Britain. Formerly, when the beaver 

 was an inhabitant, there were five families repre- 

 sented — the squirrel, the dormouse, rats, mice, aud 

 voles, hares and rabbits. 



The Squireel. 



The squirrel is the only representative of his 

 family in Britain. Squirrels of varying form are 

 found all over the world except in Australia and 

 Madagascar, and included in the family are the 

 marmots and prairie dogs. Members of the squirrel 

 family are distinguished by their teeth. 



Our British squirrel is extremely common, having 

 but few enemies other than man, and he, slayer 

 that he is, will hesitate to kill the playful, dainty 

 little red fellow, skipping from tree to tree. 



The form of the squirrel is so familiar that it need 

 not be described beyond drawing attention to a few 

 interesting points, which should be noticed. There 



