544 "Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology. 



For some time after capture the squirrel seeks always to hide. 

 Food will not be taken for hours and then only after a searching 

 exploration of the cage has shown escape to be impossible. The 

 hiding consists in seeking the distant and most inaccessible portions 

 of the cage, burrowing under shavings, f)^P6r, hay, or whatever 

 happens to constitute the bedding in the cage. Beginning to eat 

 does not mean that the squirrel has given up hope of escape. All 

 wooden parts of the cage which can be reached by two rows of sharp 

 teeth are rapidly reduced to splinters. Soon the cage either gives 

 way under his fierce attacks, or is found invulnerable; in the latter 

 case, the squirrel bides his time till an open cage door or a faulty 

 lock gives him his opportunity for freedom. 



One of my squirrels kept alone in a cage 4x3x3 feet still pre- 

 ferred the greater freedom of the room after nine months of almost 

 steady work in j^roblem boxes, the maze, etc., and would snatch the 

 slightest opportunity for escape from his cage. To be sure of keep- 

 ing such an animal, not only the cage, but also the rooms used in 

 experimentation must be kept always free from even small openings. 

 The impulse for freedom is stronger than all others, and undoubtedly 

 constitutes one of the best possible incentives for further experi- 

 mentation. This impulse to escape from confinement remains in 

 full vigor even after the animal is quite tame. 



The squirrel can not be handled as can the white rat and others 

 of his family. The time spent in taming him to the point where 

 he can be touched with the hand is long and unnecessary. The 

 squirrel is tame for many purposes long before he will allow any one 

 actually to hold him. When he is thoroughly tamed, and can be 

 handled, he becomes more or less unfit for experimentation, because 

 of his too decided interest in the movements and actions of the 

 experimenter. 



To avoid both difficulties the squirrels were moved about in a 

 small cage. This cage had a square hole, made large enough to 

 admit the animals easily, cut in the center of one side. Feeding the 

 squirrel in this once or twice was sufficient to establish in him the 

 habit of entering whenever it was brought near his living cage. 

 The animal while being fed in this small cage was brought as near 



