SCIURUS IIl'DSOMl'S. 119 



done a numher of times, the Scjuirrel oaiiiinu- each time two or 

 three boat's lengths, till finally he succeeded in reaching the? shore. 

 I have repeatedly been told by hunters and guides that they 

 occasionally meet these Squirrels swimming various lakes and rivers 

 in the Wilderness, and James Higby tells me that in June, 1877 

 he saw as many as fifty crossing Big Moose Lake, and that they 

 were all headed the same way — to the north. 



I am informed by Dr. A. K. b'isher that at the southern end of 

 Lake George, in earl)- autumn, it is sometimes an every-day 

 occurrence to see Red Squirrels swimming across the lake, from 

 west to east — never in the opposite direction. The chestnut grows 

 abundantl)- on the eastern side of the lake, but it is comparatively 

 scarce on the western, and these extensive migrations always take 

 place in years when the yield of chestnuts is large.* Mr. Winslow 

 C. Watson, in his History of Essex County, says : " The autumn 

 of 1 85 I afforded one of these periodical invasions of Essex county. 

 It fs well authenticated, that the red squirrel was constantly seen 

 in the widest parts of the lake | Lake Champlain |, far out from land, 

 swimming towards the shore, as if familiar with the service ; their 

 heads above water, and their bushy tails erect and expanded, and 

 apparently spread to the breeze. Reaching land, they stopped for 

 a moment, and relieving their active and vigorous little bodies from 

 the water, by an energetic shake or two, they bounded into the 

 woods, as light and free as if they had made no extraordinary 

 effort." 



Hawks and owls are the Squirrel's mortal enemies, often seizing 

 hini unawares; but his movements are so well timed that if 

 he sees them coming he is almost certain to escape. When either 



* A few Squirrels are occasionally seen crossing the lake when the nut-crop is only moderate 

 In .September, 1882, Mrs. Fisher was angling between Diamond Island and the west shore when a 

 Red Squirrel swam to the boat and was lifted in by the tail. After resting a few minutes it ran 

 out on an oar, jumped into the ivater and swam to the island (which is half a mile from the west 

 shore), and thence, doubtless, to the chestnut groves on the eastern side of the lake. 



