WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



ing their baits, while tame ones consume greedily 

 any raw flesh offered them. Nuts, acorns, and 

 corn grains they store in large quantities in hol- 

 lows near their winter - quarters, where sometimes 

 a dozen dwell in one hole; and they draw rations 

 from these larders pretty regularly through the 

 winter, except in storms and very ''cold snaps,'' 

 when they remain in-doors, curled up and crowded 

 together, sluggish with sleep, until the weather 

 moderates. 



If you want a pet flying-squirrel, it is well to get 

 it when young, as you can usually do in May 

 or June ; but an adult will respond to gentle treat- 

 ment with ready docility, never biting, and becom- 

 ing in a day or two perfectly tame. If you do not 

 know where a family is living, go about tapping 

 on the woodpecker-riddled dead stubs at the edge 

 of the woods until a furry head pops out to inves- 

 tigate, and then the capture is very easy, for it 

 cannot be denied that this little animal seems to 

 be fearless and confiding largely through lack of 

 wits. And sometimes they make a summer nest 

 of leaves, and csury the youngsters to it to grow 

 up in cooler quarters. 



They are, indeed, exceedingly fond and careful 

 of their little ones. Audubon relates that once he 



198 



