THE RED SQUIRREL. 



HICKAREE is the common 

 name of the Red Squirrel, 

 so called from the cry which 

 19 ^it utters. It is one of the 

 most interesting of the 

 family, and a pleasing feature of rural 

 life. During the last weeks of 

 autumn the Squirrel seems to be quite 

 in its element, paying frequent visits 

 to the nut trees and examining their 

 fruit with a critical eye, in anticipation 

 of laying up a goodly store of food for 

 the long and dreary months of winter ; 

 as they do not, as was formerly 

 asserted, hibernate, but live upon the 

 stores they secure. A scarcity may 

 mean much suffering to them, while 

 an abundance will mean plenty 

 and comfort. In filling their little 

 granaries, they detect every worm- 

 eaten or defective nut, and Iselect only 

 the soundest fruit, conveying it, one 

 by one, to its secret home. Feeding 

 abundantly on the rich products of a 

 fruitful season, the Squirrel becomes 

 very fat before the commencement of 

 winter, and is then in its greatest 

 beauty, the new fur having settled upon 

 the body, and the new hair having 

 covered the tail with its plumy fringe. 

 Did you ever watch a squirrel open 

 and eat the contents of a nut? It is 

 very curious and interesting. The 

 little fellow takes it daintily in his 

 fore-paws, seats himself deliberately, 

 and then carrying the nut to his 

 mouth, clips off the tips with his 

 sharp chisel-edged incisor teeth. He 

 then rapidly breaks away the shell, 

 and after peeling the husk from the 

 kernel, eats it complacently, all the 

 while furtively glancing about him, ever 



in readiness to vanish from his post at 

 any suspicious disturbance. The food 

 of the Squirrel is not vegetable 

 substances. Young birds, eggs, and 

 various insects constitute a part of his 

 food. He has the destructive habit of 

 nibbling green and tender shoots that 

 sprout upon the topmost boughs, thus 

 stunting the growth of many a 

 promising tree. He visits the farmers' 

 corn-cribs, too, and thus renders 

 himself somewhat obnoxious. All in 

 all, however, he has his uses, and 

 should not be wholly exterminated. 

 Tender and juicy, he has always paid 

 for his apparent despoliation, and his 

 destruction of much injurious insect 

 life rather favors his protection. 



The Squirrel is a variable animal in 

 point of color, the tint of its fur 

 changing with the country it inhabits. 

 It is easily tamed, and is a favorite 

 domestic pet. It is said, however, that 

 one should beware of purchasing so- 

 called tame Squirrels, as they are often 

 drugged with strychnine, under whose 

 influence they will permit themselves 

 to be handled. In some cases the 

 incisor teeth are drawn, to prevent 

 them from biting. It is sad that such 

 cruel tricks of the vendors exist and 

 cannot be prevented. 



It is related that about 1840, during 

 a season of great scarcity of mast, vast 

 multitudes of Squirrels migrated from 

 the eastern states to Canada, where 

 food conditions were more favorable. 

 They crossed the country in armies, 

 swam rivers with their tails curled 

 over their backs, sailing before the 

 wind. It was a curious instance of rare 

 instinct and self-preservation. 



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