440 



SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



Squirrels may bo counted by the millions in the West 

 and South-west, there being some twelve or fourteen spe- 

 cies of the Sciurns, about the same number of the /Spermo- 

 philes, or ground-squirrels, four of the Pteromys, or flying 

 squirrels, four of the Tamias, or striped squirrels, and two 

 species of prairie-dogs — the common and the short-tailed. 

 Add to these the Arctomys, or ground-hog, and the showtl 

 (Aplodontia leporina), and it will be seen that small game 

 is abundant enough. 



Although these creatures seem to be created for the spe- 

 cial purpose of feeding the larger carnivora, yet they form 

 no small portion of the food of the wandering Indians. I 

 have spent some pleasant hours in shooting them witli ar- 

 rows, and my captures were eagerly sought by hungry war- 



THE BQUUIOEL. 



riors, or by chiefs with fierce -sounding names. The rod 

 men coax the little animals out of their burrows by chirp- 

 ing with the lips ; .and as soon as they appear at the en- 

 trance, to learn what the strange sound signifies, an arrow 

 is sent twanging into their skull with a force that sends it 

 through from side to side. 



To hunt wood-squirrels successfully, small curs or terri- 

 ers ought to be used ; for the moment they tree one of the 

 nimble creatures they announce it by sharp yelps, and if a 

 person is any sort of a shot he may then bring it down 

 from its leafy covert. If the squirrels are any way plen- 

 tiful, one may bag a large number by quietly sitting on a 

 tree-stump and shooting them as they scurry past, for they 

 take little notice of a man if ho is not moving about. They 



