12 WILD NEIGHBORS CHAP. 



while they will raise a great clamor whenever a 

 stranger walks about under the trees. More than 

 this, they seem to know the Doctor's horse and 

 carriage, and pay no attention to its goings and 

 comings, but become excited whenever another 

 vehicle enters the premises. They will stay quietly 

 eating on the window-sill while one of us sits just 

 inside the glass, but when they see a visitor in the 

 room will almost invariably seize a nut and scamper 

 away as fast as they can go. Furthermore their 

 actions convince us that when, as often happens 

 in midsummer, Dr. Phillips meets one of our squir- 

 rels in some far-away street, the little animal 

 recognizes him and shows its confidence in his 

 accustomed kindness ; but I have never been 

 recognized in that way, to my knowledge. 



As pets these squirrels are not greatly in de- 

 mand, not so much so as the flying-squirrels, 

 which crawl inside your coat and appeal to your 

 affection at once. The grays are so mischievous, 

 trying their strong teeth on everything and dam- 

 aging furniture and hangings so rapidly, that we 

 never dared admit them to the house on terms of 

 intimacy, and as for confining them in a cage, it 

 was never thought of. 



In spite of some stories I have heard and read, 

 I am under the impression that an attempt to 

 make a real pet of one would prove tiresome, if it 

 didn't fail altogether. The animal is pretty to 

 look at, and pleasant to handle, but seems to have 



