56 SIGNS AND SEASONS 



were all gone but two. I saw the squirrel that 

 doubtless laid claim to them, on each occasion. 



There is one thing the red squirrel knows uner- 

 ringly that I do not (there are probably several 

 other things) ; that is, on which side of the butter- 

 nut the meat lies. He always gnaws through the 

 shell so as to strike the kernel broadside, and thus 

 easily extract it; while to my eyes there is no 

 external mark or indication, in the form or appear- 

 ance of the nut, as there is in the hickory-nut, by 

 which I can tell whether the edge or the side of the 

 meat is toward me. But examine any number of 

 nuts that the squirrels have rifled, and, as a rule, 

 you will find they always drill through the shell at 

 the one spot where the meat will be most exposed. 

 It stands them in hand to know, and they do know. 

 Doubtless, if butternuts were a main source of my 

 food, and I were compelled to gnaw into them, I 

 should learn, too, on which side my bread was 

 buttered. 



A hard winter affects the chipmunks very little; 

 they are snug and warm in their burrows in the 

 ground and under the rocks, with a bountiful store 

 of nuts or grain. I have heard of nearly a half- 

 bushel of chestnuts being taken from a single den. 

 They usually hole in November, and do not come 

 out again till March or April, unless the winter is 

 very open and mild. Gray squirrels, when they 

 have been partly domesticated in parks and groves 

 near dwellings, are said to hide their nuts here and 

 there upon the ground, and in winter to dig then* 



