Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 479 



Flying Squirrels make very interesting pets. Several years ago 

 one of us had two which were kept as pets for several weeks. They 

 had the freedom of one room in the house. During the day they 

 lay curled up in a box provided and made comfortable for that 

 purpose. At night, particularly before midnight, they would come 

 out to play about the room and to accept the nuts and other food 

 offered them. One night a drawer containing a number of bird- 

 skins was inadvertently left open. One of the squirrels got into 

 it, ate one of the skins and as a result died of arsenic poisoning. 



29. BEAVER 



CASTOR CANADENSIS CAROLINENSIS Rhoads 



* 



The Beaver was at one time pretty common in the northern 

 part of Indiana. There still exist vestiges of one or more beaver- 

 dams in the Outlet between Lost Lake and the Tippecanoe River. 



30. RABBIT 



SYLVILAGUS FLORIDANUS MEARNSII (Allen) 



The Rabbit or Cottontail is an abundant and well known ani- 

 mal of the Maxinkuckee region. The large areas of uncultivated 

 swamp-land, abounding in tall grasses, sedges and small brushy 

 shrubs, the tamarack and other swamps, and the considerable 

 tracts of timber, often with heavy undergrowth, give a wide choice 

 of location and refuge. In all these, Rabbits are usually quite 

 abundant. Although apt to be found almost anywhere, there are 

 choice places where they are particularly common. Among these 

 are the thickets, fields, and Farrar's woods at the south end of the 

 lake ; the shores of Lost Lake and the woods and fields from Green's 

 to Walley's and beyond; the fields, swamps and prairie westward 

 to Manitou and Houghton lakes, including the tamarack swamp; 

 and the low ground along Aubeenaubee Creek on the east side. 



The following records made by us serve to indicate to some 

 extent the abundance of Rabbits in this region. They are by no 

 means complete, but simply show the observations of one or two 

 persons for portions of each of several years. During the fall of 

 1899 up to January 21, one man who hunted only occasionally and 

 only in the immediate vicinity of the lake, killed 76 Rabbits. In 

 the fall of 1900 one hunter had killed 56 by December 31. In 1901 

 they were said to be plentiful in February and on December 10, 

 one hunter shot 19. On January 2, 1903, hunters obtained 21 in 

 the vicinity of Mud Lake near the head of Aubeenaubee Creek; 

 December 14, four hunters got 20 and on December 30, one got 8. 

 In 1904, 7 were killed December 8, 24 on December 13, and 2 on 



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