THE SUMMIT OF THE YEARS 



One day we found a pile of earth in a meadow, and 

 near it a hole less than two inches deep, showing 

 where the chipmunk had begun to dig and had 

 struck a stone; then he went a foot or more up the 

 hill and began again; here he soon struck stones as 

 before, then he went still farther up the hill, and 

 this time was successful in penetrating the soil. This 

 was conclusive proof that these round holes are cut 

 from above and not from below, as we often see in 

 the case of the woodchuck-hole. The squirrel ap- 

 parently gnaws through the turf, instead of dig- 

 ging through, and carries away the loosened mate- 

 rial in his mouth, never dropping or scattering a 

 gram of it. No home was ever built with less lit- 

 ter, no cleaner dooryard from first to last can be 

 found. 



The absence of anything like a trail or beaten 

 way from the mound of earth to the hole, or anything 

 suggesting passing feet, I understood better when, 

 later in the season, day after day I saw a chipmunk 

 carrying supplies into his den, which was in the turf 

 by the roadside about ten feet from a stone wall. He 

 covered the distance by a series of short jumps, ap- 

 parently striking each time upon his toes between 

 the spears of grass, and leaving no marks whatever 

 by which his course could be traced. This was also 

 his manner of leaving the hole, and doubtless it was 

 his manner in carrying away the soil from his tun- 

 nel to the dumping-pile. He left no sign upon 

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