THE FOX-SQUIRREL. 



Squirrels vary in size and 

 color according to the country 

 in which they live. In Asia 

 there is a Squirrel no larger 

 than a Mouse, and in Africa 

 there is one larger than a Cat. 



I am a North American Squir- 

 rel, one of the '' common" family, 

 as they say. I eat all sorts of 

 vegetables and fruits, as well as 

 Mice, small Birds and eggs. I 

 choose my mate in February or 

 April, go to housekeeping like 

 the birds, and raise a family 

 of from three to nine little baby 

 Squirrels. 



Some of my little readers have 

 seen me, perhaps, or one of my 

 family, frisking among the 

 branches, or running up and 

 down the trunks of trees. My 

 enemy the Hawk gets after me 

 sometimes, and then I run up 

 the tree "like a Squirrel," and 

 hide behind one of the large 

 branches, going from one to 

 another till I tire him out. 



Squirrels have to be "cunning 

 as a Fox," as they say. When 

 pursued — and oh, how often we 

 are, by men and boys, as well as 

 Hawks— -we leap from branch 

 to branch, or from tree to tree, 

 altering our direction while in 

 the ail", our tails acting as 

 rudders. At last we are driven 

 into a solitary tree, so that we 

 cannot leap into the branches of 



another. Then a boy or man 

 climbs up, tries to shake us 

 from the limb, and at length 

 succeeds in knocking us to the 

 ground. Off we run again, give 

 them a long chase, perhaps, 

 but at last are caught, and 

 probably carried home to be 

 kept in a cage like a little 

 prisoner, or maybe in a stuffy 

 wooden box. How can we be 

 happy or playful under such 

 circumstances? I think it is a 

 great shame to put any animal, 

 bird or otherwise, in a little cage; 

 don't you? 



There are men who make a 

 business of selling Squirrels for 

 household pets. If you want a 

 young Squirrel — and nobody 

 wants to buy an old one — look 

 at its teeth; if young, they will 

 be almost white; if old, a light 

 yellow. 



" Oh, mama," cried Dorothy 

 one day, "do look at this dear 

 little tame Squirrel the good 

 man wants to sell. See how 

 tame it is. It will let me stroke 

 it, and never tries to bite." 



Mama, who desired her 

 children to have four-footed, as 

 well as two-footed friends, 

 bought the tame squirrel for 

 her little girl. Alas! the (^ood 

 man had dosed the poor little 

 animal with laudunum to keep 

 it quiet. It died the next day. 



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