Seay ty re 
1901-1902. | The Squirrel as a Pet. 299 
the little animals had demonstrated their existence visually. On 
the other hand, let it be granted that the squirrel eats the 
growing tips of young branches (which I entirely deny)—might 
not this be very desirable? We know what happens if a 
forest tree be neglected in not being pruned. It grows up a 
long, bare, straggling specimen. The duty of the forester is to 
prune it so that it throws out strong lateral branches. Might 
not the squirrel be Nature’s forester—removing the growing 
ends and so giving origin to lateral offsets? Nature required 
foresters long before man thought of taking up such duties. 
If we consider pine trees, we can easily see that the removal 
of the tip of the axial stem would be fatal to the usefulness of 
the tree for timber. The desire of the forester is to make 
the pine tree grow tall, straight and undivided. I have 
already quoted authorities to show, however, that any destruc- 
tion which squirrels may cause to pine trees is insignificant. 
Vast tracts in Norway and Sweden are covered by the pine 
(Pinus sylvestris) and the spruce (P. Abies), and yet in spite of 
immense numbers of squirrels these trees grow to a height and 
girth never seen in this country. The squirrel, even when he 
does eat buds, nibbles the young leaves, but does not bite the 
tip off. The accusation brought against him that the enormous 
number of young pine-shoots which are found lying on the 
ground after high winds are due to his work is unfounded. 
The pine beetle (Hylurgus piniperda) tunnelling in the pine- 
shoots is the insect at fault, as the late Miss Ormerod clearly 
showed. Again, Mr Stillman has had experience in his own 
woodland to prove that when food of any kind and water is 
provided for them, the squirrels harm nothing. In the large 
parks in American cities—New York, Richmond, Philadelphia, 
Baltimore—the American grey squirrel is acclimatised and 
grows very familiar,—so much so, that to people with whom 
they become acquainted they will come to be fed, and search 
for their food in the pockets of the friend they recognise. 
Nothing prevents this charming sight from being common 
in the English parks but the want of protection of the little 
creature. 
Of course, some folks will not be convinced, or if convinced 
remain of the same opinion still, but to me it seems that the 
consensus of opinion is quite opposed to the popular belief 
