1936] MAMMALS OF OREGON 121 



later in the season and of females nursing young well into the fall. 

 The females have 4 pairs of mammae 1 inguinal, 2 abdominal, and 

 1 pectoral and while 4 seems to be the usual number of young, it 

 is probable that 8 is the maximum number. The young are blind 

 and naked at birth and remain in the nest for a considerable time. 

 When they first come out of the hollow trees or leafy nests, they are 

 usually nearly half grown, and are soon able to climb about and 

 take care of themselves. They remain together as a family, however, 

 until practically full grown, the mother caring for and protecting 

 them as long as they are in need of her help. The young apparently, 

 in some cases at least, keep together during the first winter, storing 

 and feeding from the common supply about their home range. A 

 hollow tree, with entrance at the top, side, or bottom, is a favorite 

 nest site for these squirrels, especially for raising the young. It has 

 many advantages in safety and possibly warmth; but nests built 

 by the squirrels of twigs and leaves and lined with moss, in the 

 branches of evergreens, are more often used in this region of sound 

 timber, where there are few hollow trees. These leaf and moss nests 

 are well matted and woven together in a great ball securely anchored 

 among the branches and entered by 1 or sometimes 2 doors at the 

 side. The central cavity is well lined with soft moss or bark fiber, 

 and the thick walls and roof are impervious to wind and rain. Where 

 hollow trees are not available, these nests are always used. 



Food habits. A great part of the food of these squirrels con- 

 sists of the rich, oily seeds of the conifers, the Douglas fir, Sitka 

 spruce, hemlocks, balsams, and pines. As soon as the cones are 

 full grown and the seeds within are half ripe in summer, they are 

 cut off and carried to branches or regular feeding places, where the 

 scales are clipped off and the seeds eaten out from underneath. As 

 the cones ripen in autumn, great numbers are cut from the trees and 

 stored in shallow pits in the ground or under logs and roots of trees. 

 These usually furnish much of the food for the following winter and 

 even later. 'Where hazel and oak occur, the nuts and acorns are 

 eagerly sought for food. A great variety of seeds, berries, and 

 mushrooms are also eaten. At times even buds and bark serve to tide 

 over a period of scarcity of more acceptable foods. McLellan records 

 seeing one of these squirrels carry a large apple in its mouth, and 

 at another time he found them eating the red and black blueberries. 

 Fisher found them drinking the sap where red-breasted sapsuckers 

 had punctured willow trees. They are active throughout the year 

 and seem usually to have an abundant food supply available*. 



Econoirdc status. In rare cases one, or a family, of these squirrels 

 may do some slight mischief by collecting the nuts or fruit or grain 

 not intended for their use. There are few complaints of damage by 

 them, however, and in most cases it is necessary only to shoot or trap 

 a few individuals to prevent further losses. Although sometimes 

 considered edible, they are too small to be valuable as game. Their 

 food is so largely the seeds of conifers that their flesh often has an 

 unpleasant flavor of pitch or turpentine. Their greatest value, how- 

 ever, is associated with their cheery note and their bright interesting 

 ways as they scamper and sing in the forest. Without them the 

 forest would lose one of its greatest charms. 



