570 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



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THE TRACKS OF A GRASSIIOPI'KR MOUSE 



The anatomy of tlie foot is fairly well shown in the track— the 

 insignificant thumb and the tubercles on the soles. The placin.i;- of 

 the fore feet, one Ijehind the other, indicates that the creature can- 

 not climb a tree. The tail seldom or never shows. The original of 

 this was in fine dust. The small tracks to the right show the style 

 usually seen. There are many species of grasshopper mouse, but the 

 tracks are not distinguishable from each other. The exact species 

 is determined by locality, size, etc. (see pages 520 and 527). 



placed it safely in a 

 knot-hole. The trip was 

 quickly repeated until the 

 family was reunited in 

 its new location. 



At night the curiosity 

 of flying squirrels about 

 strange things and their 

 mischievous activities are 

 often most entertaining, 

 and sometimes exasperat- 

 ing. Whatever is ac- 

 cessible within their ter- 

 ritory is certain to be 

 thoroughly explored. A 

 large apartment building, 

 seven stories high, in 

 Washington stands on 

 the border of the woods 

 of the Zoological Park. 

 During one summer night 

 a friend occupying an 

 apartment on the seventh 

 floor of this building, 

 fronting the park, ob- 

 served some movement 

 on one of his window 

 sills and by later obser- 

 vation and by inquiry 

 among the other resi- 

 dents learned that flying 

 squirrels were habitually 

 climbing all about the 

 high walls to the top of 

 this building, using it 

 and some of the rooms 

 as a nightly playground. 

 Several occupants of 

 apartments in different 

 parts of the building 

 regularly placed nuts of 

 various kinds on the 

 window ledges for them, 

 and now and then were 

 amused to find that dur- 

 ing the night the squir- 

 rels had carried away 

 some of their nuts, but 

 had replaced them with 

 other kinds, sometimes 

 brought from a window 

 at a considerable dis- 

 tance on another side of 

 the building. The pres- 

 ence of these squirrels 

 was warmly welcomed 

 and furnished much in- 

 terest to their hosts. 



The constant activity 

 of these little animals at 

 night enables owls and 

 cats to capture many, but 

 their small size and the 

 shelter of their homes 

 by day will prevent their 

 serious decrease in num- 

 bers so long as suitable 

 forests remain to supply 

 their needs. 



