 x901-1902.] The Squirrel. 293 
i troduction. In those days facilities for disseminating informa- 
- tion of this kind were not so common as now, and the chances 
are that squirrels were introduced to many places, though the 
fact was never put on record. 
In writing on the squirrel, it is with the deepest regret that 
I cannot characterise this beautiful animal to be as innocent 
as he is interesting. That he has become a destructive pest 
: has already been pointed out, and to such an extent has he 
a persecuted that 1000 and 1200 have been killed in one 
_ year, and in seventeen years 14,123 squirrels were killed in 
the plantations on Cawdor estate, in Nairnshire, alone. Not- 
withstanding the war of extermination—1s. per tail being paid 
on some estates in Strathspey—they continue to do much 
_ damage, and, strange to say, they show a partiality for planted 
' trees as against natural. So long as cones are plentiful, they 
will not attack the bark. They begin their ravages about the 
_ end of April and continue their work of destruction until fungi 
or toadstools grow, when they cease to feed on bark. As 
already indicated, they ramble far from woods in search of 
_ fungi. 
_ MrW. J. Stillman, in his charming little book on his two 
pet squirrels “Billy and Hans,” asserts that squirrels do 
_ practically no harm, and in support of his contention quotes 
from a letter of “an intelligent Scotch gamekeeper, Mr James 
~Mutch.” The letter states, “There are a great many of them 
_ here. . . . I have never seen a squirrel eating or destroying the 
“young shoots of forest trees, and there are thousands of young 
trees here, Scotch fir or pine, the kind they are blamed for 
destroying, and I am safe to say that I could not point out 
one tree damaged by a squirrel.” Unfortunately he does not 
mention from what estate Mr Mutch writes. I know game- 
keepers in every part of Scotland, and have never heard of 
James Mutch. If I can find out his address, I shall make a 
point of going to see him, and will be only too glad if he can 
_€onvert me to his views. 
The squirrel is frequently found infested with vermin, and 
‘my experience of once putting one in my pocket is anything 
but pleasant. I am not sufficiently skilled in entomology to 
describe the kind of flea, but, as far as I can judge, it closely 
| Beeombles the domestic flea, which, as we are all aware, is 
, 
