118 SQUIRRELS AND OTHER FUR-BEARERS 



she presented as she rushed along, as if slit and 

 torn into rags. Her pace was so hurried that 

 two of the young could not keep their hold and 

 were left in the weeds. We remained quiet, and 

 presently the mother came back looking for 

 them. When she had found one, she seized it 

 as a cat seizes her kitten and made off with it. 

 In a moment or two she came back and found 

 the other one and carried it away. I was curi- 

 ous to see if the young would take hold of her 

 teats again as at first, and be dragged away in 

 that manner, but they did not. It would be 

 interesting to know if they seize hold of their 

 mother by instinct when danger threatens, or if 

 they simply retain the hold which they already 

 have. I believe the flight of the family always 

 takes place in this manner with this species of 

 mouse. 



I suspect that our white-footed mouse is capa- 

 ble of lending a hand to a fellow in distress ; at 

 least, the following incident looks like it. One 

 season they overran my cabin in the woods, and 

 gave me a good deal of annoyance ; so much so 

 that I tried trapping them, using the ordinary 

 circular trap with four or five holes and wire 

 springs. One night I heard the trap spring in 

 the attic over my head, followed by the kicking 

 and struggling of the mouse. This continued 



