IN FIELD AND WOOD 



heads dozens of individual snakes of that locality 

 entwined in one many-headed mass, conserving in 

 this united way their animal heat against the cold of 

 winter. One spring my neighbor in the woods dis- 

 covered such a winter retreat of the copperheads, 

 and, visiting the place many times during the warm 

 April days, he killed about forty snakes, and since 

 that slaughter, the copperheads have been at a pre- 

 mium in our neighborhood. 



Here and there, near the fences and along the 

 borders of the wood, these X-ray eyes would see the 

 chipmunk at the end of his deep burrow with his store 

 of nuts or grains, sleeping fitfully but not dormant. 

 The frost does not reach him and his stores are at 

 hand. One which we dug out in late October had 

 nearly four quarts of weed-seeds and cherry-pits. 

 He will hardly be out before March, and then, like 

 his big brother rodent the woodchuck, and other 

 winter sleepers, his fancy will quickly "turn to 

 thoughts of love." 



One would see the woodchuck asleep in his burrow, 

 snugly rolled up and living on his own fat. All the 

 hibernating animals that keep up respiration, must 

 have sustenance of some sort either a store of 

 food at hand or a store of fat in their own bodies. 

 The woodchuck, the bear, the coon, the skunk, the 

 'possum, lay up a store of fuel in their own bodies, 

 and they come out in the spring lean and hungry. 

 The squirrels are lean the year through, and hence 

 285 



