SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA 



481 



Phntoiji-nph by Howard Taylor Middleton 



A NEST OF YOUNG WIIITR-FOOTKn MICE 



One form of this small animal has been found living at an elevation of from 15,000 to 16,000 

 feet on Mt. Orizaba, Mexico, the highest record of any North American mammal 



they appear to have far greater confi- 

 dence ; yet this also is a time of imminent 

 danger from the owls and many beasts 

 of prey then prowling about. 



That the small rodents have good cause 

 for their timorous ways is plain when we 

 consider the array of enemies which en- 

 compass them, including owls, herons, 

 gulls, bears, foxes, bobcats, weasels and 

 their cousins, with snakes, and on occa- 

 sion fishes, which take endless toll from 

 their numbers. Fortimately for them, 

 these small folk live wholly in the present 

 and quickly forget the shadow of death 

 cast by the passage of a hawk or the 

 skulking form of a four-footed enemy. 



COUNTLESS BEASTS THAT ROAM THE 

 NIGHT 



By day the squirrels, chipmunks, wood- 

 chucks, and spermoi)hiles are abroad and 

 unite with the birds to lend an air of 

 pleasant animation to forest and plain. 

 With the falling shades of night, near 

 the abodes of mankind as well as in the 

 remote wilderness, everywhere a count- 



less multitude of small beasts come forth 

 and form a little, bright - eyed furry 

 world, clad in delicate shades of gra\- 

 and brown and characterized by remark- 

 able grace and agility. 



These small folk of the night swarm 

 out from sntig nests hidden in burrows in 

 the earth, in crevices among the rocks, in 

 hollow trees, under logs or other cover, 

 and even from the shelter afforded by 

 buildings. In number and variety of 

 forms they far exceed anything seen by 

 day. The air is filled with the flitting 

 forms of bats, while among the trees or 

 on the ground, varying with the locality, 

 are multitudes of rabbits, flying-squirrels, 

 rats and mice of many kinds, lemmings, 

 pocket-mice, kangaroo-rats, pocket-go- 

 phers, shrews, and even moles. 



This abundance of night life brings 

 forth the prowling powers of darkness in 

 the form of velvet-winged owls, weasels, 

 skunks, minks, martens, and other car- 

 nivores, which by scent and by keen vision 

 find abundant harvest. The small car- 

 nivores, in turn, are subject to the pred;i- 



