THE SQUIRREL 223 



squirrel is not particular as regards " company " ! 

 For this reason it is never wise to put your hand 

 into a squirrel's nest ; besides which the young 

 squirrels, if at home, may resent it. They grow 

 quickly and soon develop into miniature 

 editions of their parents, including teeth, which 

 they will use with quite good effect ! As an 

 instance of this I must tell the story of a little 

 squirrel that came into my hands. It was one 

 of a family that had been reared in a nest in a 

 fir tree, which tree was to be cut down with the 

 rest of the wood in which it grew. A boy, who 

 was watching the timber-felling, noticed the drey, 

 and immediately swarmed up the tree, put his 

 hand into the nest, and pulled it out quicker than 

 he put it in something had given him a sharp 

 nip ! Next second " a whole swarm of squirrels 

 tumbled out." He managed to scramble down 

 quick enough to catch one of the young ones which 

 had fallen to the ground, and that evening 

 brought it to me. The rest had vanished among 

 the fallen timber. The one he brought to me 

 was about six inches long, head, body, and tail 

 included. It could see well and was surprisingly 

 active for its size. As one of the stable cats had 

 a large family of kittens, I took the little thing 

 to her, in the hope she would adopt it. She 

 took little notice of it when it was put among 

 the kittens, but the young squirrel was not ready 

 to accommodate itself to such strange surround- 

 ings. It several times crawled off into the hay 

 in which the cat had made her nest, but after 



