The Red Squirrel E55 
nutting season, he keeps late hours; in this respect 
resembling his smaller cousin, the flying squirrel. 
The red squirrel combines qualities so dissimilar, 
that he is clearly the enigma of the forest. His wonder- 
ful inquisitiveness, his exasperating insolence, coupled 
with all disregard for the ordinary civilities of the 
wood dwellers, would stamp him “the black sheep” 
of the flock. If you disturb him in your walk, and 
your dog makes a dash for him, he mounts the nearest 
tree, and from a limb just out of reach he literally 
boils over with rage and indignation, jerking his tail 
and stamping the limb furiously, calling “chickaree, 
chickaree.’ He barks and spits, and says things in 
squirrel language that probably would sound very 
dreadful in English; he makes little dashes first this 
way, then that, as though he intended to come down 
the tree and run that dog from the premises. He 
has no more respect for a man than for a dog, and 
if you sit down and remain motionless, he may either 
pay no attention to you at all, or his insolence may 
know no bounds, so fickle and changeable is his 
‘disposition. If: your presence is not agreeable to 
him, he will approach nearer and nearer, calling 
loudly, and if you quietly persist in remaining where 
you are, he‘becomes a small fury of impudent rage. 
Yet, with these objectionable traits, his intelligence, 
