SQUIRRELS, RATS, PORCUPINES, ETC. 307 



animals, but they generally are much more mis- 

 chievous as inmates of houses. During the time 

 of their annual invasions it is hard to say what may 

 not suffer from their attacks, as, unlike the brown 

 rats, who generally direct their attention to articles 

 of food, they seem to be possessed of a devil of 

 gnawing that drives them to exercise their teeth 

 impartially on anything they come across, and to 

 play havoc among books, boots, bedding, and furni- 

 ture generally. They are strangely, and, in a sense, 

 attractively familiar in their ways, and seem to take 

 it quite as a matter of course that they must be 

 welcome guests. They show none of the furtive 

 habits that ordinarily characterise brown rats, and 

 will often come out and play about in rooms 

 in full daylight quite regardless of the presence of 

 human beings. One afternoon, whilst I was sitting 

 idly watching one frisking about the room, it 

 gradually came nearer and nearer, and eventually 

 mounted on one of my feet to sit up there and 

 have a good look around, whilst it leisurely scratched 

 its head, and combed out its whiskers. This was 

 all very well, but it is not so pleasant to awake 

 morning after morning to find a large hole in the 

 mosquito- curtains and much of the stuffing of the 

 bed-pillows pulled out and strewn around as evi- 

 dence of the fact that a rat has been paying a visit 

 during the night. Whilst residing out of doors 

 they spend much of their time among the boughs 



