BUZZARD'S REST. 31 



when it is quite dark, and are safely guided by the sense 

 of smell, nevertheless, the experience of trappers about 

 home proves that they do wander about during moon- 

 light nights. Indeed, on careful inquiry, it seems that 

 the trapper generally anticipates better success during 

 the moonlit nights than when it is very dark. I strong- 

 ly suspect that the truth lies in the fact that when it is 

 dark and stormy the watchful house-dog is not on the 

 alert, and thus the cunning weasel or mink is free to 

 raid npon the poultry-house and feast upon the pullet 

 that it seizes. How my neighbors will take to this ex- 

 planation I can only surmise. Like other people, they 

 fight vigorously for the opinions they have cherished 

 through life. The musk-rat and gray squirrels have 

 given rise to many trite sayings, and have long been 

 looked upon as weather prophets, but that they are noth- 

 ing of the sort I have elsewhere'''^ endeavored to show. 

 The following may or may not be a local saying : 



"When flying-squirrels run on ground, 

 • The clouds '11 pass you by, be bound." 



"What this may mean has been a question with me for a 

 long time. It is a common remark, either in this or a 

 simpler form, and many who have little faith in pigs or 

 dogs as weather prophets build largely upon the habits 

 of the flying-squirrel. The saying itself implies that a 

 drought exists at the time that these animals frequent 

 the ground rather than the trees, coming, of course, 



* " Rambles about Home," p. 73. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 

 1884. 



