The Red Squirrel as a Mycophagtst. A.H.R.Biiller. 361 



Finally, during a cc^ld spell in mid-winter, the mushrooms which 

 still remained all disa})i)eared from the tree and, after this, the 

 squirrel failed to return." 



Another observer who has watched squirrels taking fungi up 

 into trees and storing them there is my friend and colleague, 

 Dr Gordon Bell, who writes as follows: 



" I have often seen squirrels carrying pieces of fungi up into 

 trees. At Fox Lake in C)ntario there was a large pinkish fungus 

 which was very common in the woods and which interested me 

 l:)ecause I wished to hnd out whether or not it was edible. One 

 day in the latter part of August, for fully fifteen minutes, I 

 watched a red squirrel carry pieces of the fungus up into a pitch- 

 pine tree and deposit them in the forks made by the branches. 

 I have also seen squirrels in Fort Rouge, Winnipeg, carrying 

 pieces of a Pcziza-like fungus up into trees. I think it highly 

 probable that the squirrels eat these fungi after they have dried, 

 but I cannot assert this from actual observation." 



From the foregoing evidence, it appears that the storing of 

 fungi in the branches of trees in the autumn by the Red Squirrel 

 is a well developed instinct. It is remarkable with what care 

 the fungi are deposited. The fork of a branch is first selected 

 and then the stipe is pushed downwards through it so that the 

 pileus rests on the twigs, the result being that the fruit-body as 

 a whole cannot fall to the ground by its own weight or be easily 

 dislodged by the wind or by the swaying of the branches. The 

 trees chosen by the squirrels for their open larders are usually 

 Spruce-trees. 



In England, during the late autumn and winter, as is well 

 known, the climate is mild, the rainfall heavy, and the periods 

 of frost not very intense or long continued. The English squirrel 

 lays up for the winter a store of nuts and seeds but, so far as is 

 known, never any fungi. Fleshy fungi, if stored by this animal 

 either in holes or on the branches of trees would, owing to the 

 dampness and mildness of the English climate, surely be apt to 

 go rotten rather rapidly. On the other hand, in the inland parts 

 of Canada and of the northern United States, the climate, during 

 the late autumn and winter, is relatively very cold, the precipi- 

 tation relatively slight and in the form of snow, and the frost 

 very severe and prolonged. In central and western Canada and 

 in North Dakota, snow lies upon the ground and the earth is 

 frost-bound for at least four months each year. In the northern 

 part of North America, therefore, the storage of winter food- 

 supplies by squirrels is even more important than in England. 

 The Red Squirrel lays up for the winter not merely cones and 

 nuts but, in addition, a store of fungi. Owing to the dryness 

 and coldness of the climate, the fungi hung in the branches of 



