IQOI-1902. | The Squirrel as a Pet. 205 
with positive assurance, that no animal (not even excluding 
man’s companion, the dog) that I know of possesses higher 
mental qualities than the squirrel. Mr Speedy cites as 
evidence the fact that he has frequently seen them searching 
for buried nuts and not being able to find them. Nothing is 
so easy as to draw an erroneous conclusion from observations, 
and I feel sure that this has occurred here. I also have often 
watched squirrels hiding nuts, and noted with pleasure the 
clever way in which the tiny hands were used to cover them 
up (the term “ paw,” I think, should be applied only to those 
animals who do not use the digits as a hand). But I have 
also just as often seen the squirrel come to examine his 
hiding-place to see if his hoard were still safe, or else to find 
which nut was most mature or which tickled his sense of 
smell the most. I have seen one go from place to place sniff- 
ing, and at last unearth one which doubtless seemed most to: 
his taste. The tame squirrel exhibits similar preferences, 
rejecting one and grasping another nut, both of which seemed 
equally good. This is an example of how observers differ in 
the interpretation of observations. In this case, mine is 
certainly correct. 
_ Well, I have kept squirrels for four years, and ought surely 
to be able to speak with some degree of authority regarding 
their habits. No other pet that I know of will give one so 
much pleasure as the squirrel. Its constant vivacity, keen 
sense of fun, and interesting ways, render it an object of 
: Natural History well seca the attention of every kindly 
disposed person. I must premise, however, that in order 
to make a tame squirrel, you must get one almost from the 
nest Unless you do so you will never be able to make a real 
pet of him—he will always remain somewhat wild, and hardly 
o be depended upon. The free use of his teeth comes too 
‘readily to him to be altogether pleasant for the owner. 
Besides, the cruelty of taking an animal which has had the 
free run of a forest and confining him even to a house is too 
great to be thought of. Though you may give him a cage to 
exercise in, with a sleeping-box attached, on no account ought 
he to be confined in one. To an animal of so active a nature 
@ cage is a positive torture, and no matter how well you 
attend to him in the way of food, he will soon languish and 
VOL. IV. Y 
