Ked Squirrel 



A little red squirrel often comes poking about the 

 old apple tree looking for something to eat. He oc- 

 casionally helps himself to a free meal at my bird 

 feeder, but I don't mind. Now, when the December 

 weather is icy and his stomach is empty, it's hard for a 

 squirrel to pass up a nice brown crust of bread just 

 sitting out there in front of his eyes and nose. 



I enjoy this little fellow's visits. One like him 

 Willie was once my pet, a helpless little orphan I 

 adopted after a hurricane had swept away his home. 



Squirrels build their leafy nests in branches or in 

 the hollow trunks of trees. They seem to enjoy life 

 immensely, and spend many of their waking hours 

 leaping friskily from one branch to another, balancing 

 themselves with their long, beautifully bushy tails. 



They are industrious, too. Always on the lookout 

 for food, they thriftily and constantly store nuts 

 away to be eaten on cold winter days. And no matter 

 how many of them he has stored, the red squirrel 

 seems never to have enough to satisfy him. 



Nature has arranged it so that he'll forget where he 

 buried some of his hundreds of acorns and nut 

 treasures. If these nuts and acorns are left uneaten in 

 the ground, and do not decay, then it's likely that they 

 will grow and become trees. Thanks to the squirrels! 



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