16 SQUIRRELS AND OTHER FUR-BEARERS 



I hear the little downy woodpecker begin his 

 spring drumming, then I know the chipmunk 

 is due. He cannot sleep after that challenge of 

 the woodpecker reaches his ear. 



Apparently the first thing he does on coming 

 forth, as soon as he is sure of himself, is to go 

 courting. So far as I have observed, the love- 

 making of the chipmunk occurs in March. A 

 single female will attract all the males in the 

 vicinity. One early March day I was at work 

 for several hours near a stone fence, where a 

 female had apparently taken up her quarters. 

 What a train of suitors she had that day ! how 

 they hurried up and down, often giving each 

 other a spiteful slap or bite as they passed. The 

 young are born in May, four or five at a birth. 



The chipmunk is quite a solitary creature ; I 

 have never known more than one to occupy the 

 same den. Apparently no two can agree to live 

 together. What a clean, pert, dapper, nervous 

 little fellow he is ! How fast his heart beats, as 

 he stands up on the wall by the roadside, and, 

 with hands spread out upon his breast, regards 

 you intently ! A movement of your arm, and 

 he darts into the wall with a saucy chip-r-r, 

 which has the effect of slamming the door be- 

 hind him. 



On some still day in autumn, one of the nutty 



