325 



fore the middle of March. It frequently, indeed usually, hap- 

 pens that the time chosen for entering upor) the execution of 

 this singular proclivity Is during fine, warm, weather and at a 

 time when the fields are clothed with a luxuriant growth of his 

 favorite food, clover. In fact the Woodchuclt retires to the cold 

 dark recesses of his cheerless subterranean abode to commence 

 a period of voluntary seclusion, to enter upon a state of com- 

 plete oblivion and absolute lethargy, at the very lime when one 

 would naturally suppose he would most enjoy himself above 

 ground. 



"The Gray Squirrel, on the other hand, remains out nearly 

 the entire winter, and withdraws to its nest in some hollow tree 

 only during the severest weather. The Raccoon and Bear fur- 

 nish examples of animals whose dormant periods are Interme- 

 diate in duration between those above cited. 



"Hibernation is, after afl, merely a profound sleep, intensified 

 and protracted. During ordinary sleep respiration is slackened 

 and the temiperature of the body is lower than when the animal 

 is awake. The longer the sleep continues the less frequent du 

 the respirations become and the lower does the temperature fall, 

 till finally the condition of deep and continued sleep— the true 

 lethargy of hibernation— is attained. This apparent phenom- 

 enon, then, is a genuine physiological process, differing in de- 

 gree only from ordinary sleep. It is the result of conditions of 

 environment, and has become an hereditary habit, enabling cer- 

 tain -mammals to exist during a period when their usual food 

 supply is cut off. The dormant state is sometimes brought cm 

 by extremes of temperature, but this is not often the case."— 

 From The Vertebrates of the Adirondack Region, Northwest- 

 ern New York. By Dr. C. Hart Merriam, pp. 28, 29. 



Animals lUie llie Minks, which often make lonji 

 journeys to good hunting- grounds, or others such as 

 the Foxes, Weasels, Wildcat, etc., which frequentlv 

 range over large areas of territory, have no difticulty 

 to obtain necessary food supplies, consequently hiber- 

 nation with them is not a necessity to maintain exis 

 tence. 



ABUND.\NifF, OP' SOMK .MAMMALS. 



In many sections of P(<nnsylvania, inamnials — parti 

 cnlarly species which are readily disposed of to fur 



