FOUR-FOOTED FORESTERS THE SQUIRRELS 



BY DR. R. W. SHUFELDT, C. M. Z. S. 



THERE is no region, country, or continent on the 

 globe that can in any way rival North America for 



the great number of squirrels, both species and 

 subspecies, represented in her fauna. In so far as bril- 

 liancy of color and size are concerned, however, the 

 handsomest and largest squirrels in the world are found 

 in various countries of the Orient and the East Indies. 

 For instance, along the coast of Malabar is found a 

 squirrel as big as an ordinary cat; this animal is bright 

 red on the upper part of its body, offset by the most 

 intense black, while all the lower parts are of a clear 

 yellow. 



The largest squirrels found in the United States are 

 the fox squirrels, and some of these are also called cat 

 squirrels ; n o t 

 that any of 

 them look like 

 a fox or a cat 

 the terms 

 probably have 

 refer ence to 

 the color of 

 some of the 

 species in the 

 first instance, 

 and in the sec- 

 ond to the mat- 

 ter of size. The 

 largest arboreal 

 squirrel in the 

 United States 



the fox 



is 



Fig. 1. A young male which was a pet of the author's for more than a year, but it never became 

 very gentle. Usually the tail of this and allied species is much more bushy and handsome. 



squirrel of the 

 north eastern 

 section of the 

 country, an animal now becoming extremely rare in the 

 districts where it used to be very abundant. Like all 

 fox squirrels, it is subject to great variation in color ; and 

 some people might think they had several species before 

 them were they to see a lot of them together, selected 

 with the view of exemplifying these color phases. Unlike 

 the gray, the fox squirrel hoards up little or no food for 

 the winter months, and this seems to be a season he does 

 not especially relish. In fact, in very cold weather with 

 deep snow, he will roll himself up in some warm hollow 

 of a tree and there partly hibernate. Should a warm 

 spell come along, many of the fox squirrels will shake 

 off their stupor, descend to the ground, there to stretch 

 about under the hardwood trees where the snow has 

 disappeared to a greater or less extent, to find hickory 

 nuts, chestnuts, beech mast, and so on ; if it chances 

 that spring is drawing near, they may find some swell- 

 ing buds to fill out the list. 



During the late spring and summer months, these big, 

 lazy squirrels fare much better; there are plenty of ber- 



COMMON EASTERN CHIPMUNK 



ries and wild fruit, and there is nothing they enjoy more 

 than the ears of luscious, sweet corn, ripening early in 

 the fields of the farmer. In the estimation of the fox 

 squirrels, this is far and away ahead of all the seeds of 

 pine cones, or acorns and nuts they ever tasted. They 

 think mushrooms not bad though, and will eat them 

 when they find them. 



It is rarely the case that any of the larger hawks or 

 owls capture a squirrel of this species ; they are usually 

 pretty cautious, and, being big and strong, they can 

 take very good care of themselves. For all that, it is 

 likely that a Great Horned Owl or a Snowy Owl could 

 manage one all right, especially the former, as the writer 

 has often seen it hunting through the woods in the day 



time. And, as 

 the fox squir- 

 rel is a late 

 riser, and never 

 makes a prac- 

 tice of being 

 out of his hole 

 at night, he is 

 also, to some 

 extent, free 

 from the at- 

 tacks of the 

 racoon, wild- 

 cats, and gray 

 foxes. Never- 

 theless, these 

 animals are his 

 enemies and 

 d e s t r o y ers ; 

 they undoubt- 

 e d 1 y capture 

 and devour many a fox squirrel, especially throughout 

 the South or such parts of it where cats, foxes, and 

 'coons are plenty. However, they have more to dread 

 from the shot-gun and wicked modern rifle of the hunter, 

 who comes to a tree where he notices the scattered scales 

 of the cones underneath a sure sign that a fox squirrel 

 is up there, biting them off to get at the seeds. It may 

 be some other species, but it is more likely a fox squirrel, 

 and the hunter will surely scout around that tree till 

 he gets him. 



In the South, instead of living in the hollow trees, the 

 fox squirrels build big nests in the tops of the pine and 

 other trees usually of Spanish moss ; in these they 

 sleep, also carrying to them the pine cones just mentioned. 

 In the hardwood forests of the North, dry leaves take 

 the place of the Spanish moss, and a conspicuous nest is 

 built with an entrance hole at the side. Sometimes these 

 leaves turn a brilliant yellow, and then they attract the 

 attention of any one who is an observer of such things 

 in the woods. Many people relish the fox squirrel as 



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