THE PESTS OP THE FARM. 93 



Later, when the strawberries and other small fruits arc ripened, 

 it takes no small share of these delicacies ; and when the grains 

 are fit for harvesting, the amount this little thief carries off is 

 sometimes astonishing. In addition to these articles of diet, 

 the chipmunk secures great quantities of nuts ; and lazy people 

 often watch the little gatherer, and follow it to its'home, where, 

 digging into it with shovel and pick, the stores that had been 

 laid up for future needs are discovered. 



In the winter, unlike the other species, this squirrel partially 

 hibernates, sleeping most of the time in its burrow until warm 

 weather comes. It would be unbearably abundant in cultivated 

 districts did it not have enemies in all the birds and beasts of 

 prey and the various snakes. Its pretty form, active habits and 

 confiding disposition insure its tolerance in some localities ; but 

 generally it is regarded as a nuisance, and is killed at every 

 opportunity. 



As a means of destroying the squirrels, the gun is proved the 

 most efficacious ; they are also poisoned with corn which has 

 been soaked in strychnine, and may be readily caught in box- 

 traps and pitfalls. Numbers fall victims to domestic cats, and 

 were the latter not destructive to small birds their employment 

 would be advisable. "We know a person who owns fifteen or 

 twenty cats which are permitted to run in the fields about the 

 house ; not a squirrel, rat or mouse can be found on the prem- 

 ises ; neither, unfortunately, can any of the small birds, and the 

 utility of these cats is therefore most questionable, to say the 

 least. 



Rabbits, in some localities, are very troublesome, and their 

 visits to patches of young pea-vines and tender vegetables are 

 numerous and unwelcome. I have known of instances of large 

 areas of early pease being eaten down to the ground when they 

 were situated in the neighborhood of swampy woods, the home 

 of the rabbits, and nurserymen often complain of the ravages 

 committed in plantations of young fruit trees, the rabbits eating 

 the bark entirely off" around each tree. Animals trapped so 

 easily as these, however, should never be permitted to have the 

 range of the garden and nursery, and negligence in killing 

 them should be repaid by their devastations. The ordinary 

 box-traps, baited with a sweet apple, are always successful with 

 them, and if these are not available, the common spring-up 



