30 



may say these creatures bad been merely storing up food against 

 a season of want, and that is true, but it is only half the truth. 

 It is true also that many of the seeds which are hidden by the 

 squirrels are never found by them again. There is an immense 

 amount of vitality in these creatures, which must be expended in 

 some way. When the red squirrel is not eating or providing food 

 for himself, or getting into some abominable mischief, he is scold- 

 ing or chattering in profane squirrel language at some intruder, or 

 busy burying or digging something up. We know that the duck- 

 hawk slays when it has no appetite, and leaves its victims where 

 they fall ; that the shrike impales mauy victims which it does not 

 eat, thus furnishing winter food for jays and titmice. If rapacious 

 birds slay for the joy of killing, no doubt the squirrel plants for 

 the joy of planting. At any rate, in thus planting it fulfils one 

 of the purposes of its existence. The squirrel makes his journeys 

 back and forth, burying the acorns and hickory nuts in secret places. 

 One day, however, as he is going his accustomed path up the wal- 

 nut tree, a hawk swoops down and gathers the squirrel to his 

 fathers. That squirrel has stored up for future use a supply of 

 food which he will never gather. As Thoreau says, he is " plant- 

 ing a hickory wood for all creation." 



Even the wood mice are given to such tricks. While living, one 

 winter, in the woods, four children had stored in the house several 

 quarts of chestnuts. These chestnuts would disappear myste- 

 riously from their receptacles, and reappear in the most unique 

 places. If on retiring at night one left his shoes upon the floor, in 

 the morning he would find the toe stuffed with chestnuts. They 

 were found deposited in various hiding places all about the house, 

 and were moved from night to night, being carried from the ground 

 floor to the attic and returned again. Single chestnuts, chestnuts 

 by pairs, chestnuts by the dozen and by the score were trans- 

 ported and hidden in the most unlikely places throughout the 

 building. A full quart of these chestnuts might be gathered in 

 the morning from the various places in which they had been 

 secreted during the night. There were no house mice or squirrels 

 in the house, but by keeping a watch and setting a few mouse 

 traps it was found that a small colon}^ of deer mice had stolen the 

 chestnuts and put them "in circulation." Here, then, we have a 

 planter of chestnuts. 



The birds and squirrels destroy a great part of the seed crop, 

 but the trees produce a great surplus, and the wild creatures plant 

 and leave to germinate an abundance of good seed. Thus the de- 

 stroyer of the seed disseminates and perpetuates the very tree 

 which furnishes its sustenance. 



