10 SQUIRRELS AND OTHER FUR-BEARERS 



There is something very human in this appar- 

 ent mirth and mockery of the squirrels. It seems 

 to be a sort of ironical laughter, and implies self- 

 conscious pride and exultation in the laugher. 

 " What a ridiculous thing you are, to be sure ! " 

 he seems to say ; " how clumsy and awkward, 

 and what a poor show for a tail ! Look at me, 

 look at me ! " and he capers about in his best 

 style. Again, he would seem to tease you and 

 provoke your attention ; then suddenly assumes 

 a tone of good-natured, childlike defiance and 

 derision. That pretty little imp, the chipmunk, 

 will sit on the stone above his den and defy you, 

 as plainly as if he said so, to catch him before 

 he can get into his hole if you can. 



A hard winter affects the chipmunks very 

 little ; they are snug and warm in their burrows 

 in the ground and under the rocks, with a boun- 

 tiful store of nuts or grain. I have heard of 

 nearly a half-bushel of chestnuts being taken 

 from a single den. They usually hole up in No- 

 vember, and do not come out again till March or 

 April, unless the winter is very open and mild. 

 Gray squirrels, when they have been partly do- 

 mesticated in parks and groves near dwellings, 

 are said to hide their nuts here and there upon 

 the ground, and in winter to dig them up from 



