310 



THE RODENTS OR GNAWING ANIMALS. 



In youth all Squirrels are lively, playful and very 

 inoffensive creatures, and delight in being petted. 

 They know and love their keeper and show a certain 

 amount of docility in that they respond to their 

 name. Unfortunately nearly all, even the tamest, 

 become deceitful, or at least addicted to biting, in 

 advanced age. 



The Squirrel's The Marten is the most formidable 

 Foes ate foe of the Squirrel. The Fox seldom 

 Many. succeeds in capturing a Squirrel, and 



Kestrels, Hawks and large Owls it escapes by climb- 

 ing rapidly around a tree in a spiral course, when 

 the birds are after it. As the birds have to describe 

 much greater curves in their flight than the Squirrel 

 does in its climbing, it finally succeeds in reaching 

 a hole or dense foliage on the tree-top, where it 

 is safe from further molestation. It is a different 

 matter to escape the Marten. This bloodthirsty 

 beast climbs as well as its victim and pursues it step 

 by step, in the tree-tops as well as on the ground. 

 Young Squirrels are exposed to many more dangers 

 than old ones; and quite young animals can even be 

 overtaken by a human being who is a good climber. 

 When we were boys we pursued such young Squir- 

 rels, climbed after them, 

 and the indifference with 

 which they regarded our 

 approach frequently led to 

 their capture. As soon 

 as we could reach the 

 branch on which the 

 young animal sat, it was 

 doomed. We would shake 

 the branch violently up 

 and down, and the thor- 

 oughly frightened Squirrel 

 generally thought only of 

 holding fast, lest it should 

 fall. We would then go 

 farther and farther out, 

 still shaking the branch, 

 until we could seize the 

 little animal with a quick 

 grasp. 



The Fur of On the banks of the Lena the peas- 



the Common ants are entirely engrossed by the 

 Squirrel. Squirrel-chase from the beginning of 

 March to the middle of April, and some put out as 

 many as a thousand traps. The Tungus shoot it 

 with blunt arrows, lest they should spoil the fur, or 

 else they use guns of a small calibre, with bullets 

 the size of a pea, and kill it by shooting it in the 

 head. According to Radde's verbal accounts Squir- 

 rel hunting in southeastern Siberia is both entertain- 

 ing and exciting. The great quantity of the game 

 is a source of satisfaction and revenue to the hunter, 

 for the pelts are much esteemed as fur and a great 

 number of people are engaged in the trade in them. 

 The finest skins come from Siberia, and the farther 

 east they are procured the darker and more valuable 

 they are; west of the Ural they are lighter. The 

 back and under-part of the furs are used separately. 

 Russia and Siberia annually furnish from six to 

 seven million skins, valued at a little short of a mil- 

 lion dollars; only two or three million skins are 

 shipped to western Europe; the rest are manufact- 

 ured in Russia or exported to China. Besides the 

 skins, the tails are employed as boas, and the hair 

 of the tail makes good painters' brushes. The flesh 

 is white, tender and savory, and is much esteemed 

 by epicures. 



CHICKAREE OR RED SQUIRREL. A species of Squirrel found 



in British America and also through the northern portion of the United 

 States. It is especially noteworthy as resembling, more than any other 

 American species, the Common Squirrel of Europe. (Sciurus hudsonii.) 



The Chicka- Very nearly allied to the Common Squirrel 

 ree or Red oi Europe is the Red Squirrel, or Chickaree, 

 Sauirrel (Sciurus /luiisonius) a small but quite nu- 



" ' merous and very handsome American spe- 



cies, found throughout British North America as far as the for- 

 ests extend, and also in the most northern states in this country; 

 and a local variety of this Squirrel is found as far south as Col- 

 orado. The reddish hue of the back may be dark or light, the 

 animal showing great variety in this respect. The under parts 

 are almost always white, but there is a black streak along the 

 flank and the russet tail is fringed with black. The chirping 

 noise made by this animal as it busies itself in the woods gives 

 rise to its name of " Chickaree," which resembles the sound it 

 makes. The length of this animal is about eight inches, exclu- 

 sive of the tail, which is a little less than that. Its habits are 

 the same as those of the Common Squirrel; in fact, the habits 

 of all species of the true Squirrels are so very similar that what 

 has been said of the Common Squirrel may apply to them all. 

 Gray Squirrels T^J**' t known 1 of American Squirrels is 

 of Several Gray Squirrel, a name given to several 



Kinds varieties or species which have been differ- 



entiated by naturalists. The Gray Squirrel 

 (Sciurus carolinensis) is larger than the Chickaree, being about 

 ten inches long, with a tail that is longer than the body. Those 

 of the north are larger than their relatives in the south. The 

 backand flanks of this Squirrel are reddish gray, the under 

 portion being white. It is found in all of the Atlantic states, 

 north and south. In the southwest its place is taken by 

 another Gray Squirrel {Sciurus arizonensis) found in New and 

 Old Mexico and Arizona principally, which is a large variety 



and has a specially prominent 

 tail, very bushy and longer than 

 its body. This Squirrel is some- 

 times found at considerable alti- 

 tudes, especially among the 

 mountain forests of pine, pinon 

 and cedar trees in the northern 

 part of Arizona. A little farther 

 north in the Rocky Mountains 

 is found a very beautiful chest- 

 nut-backed Gray Squirrel (Sciu- 

 rus aberti) which is of a pure 

 gray on the upper surface, white 

 below, has a chestnut band on 

 the back and a black stripe on 

 the flanks, and which has tufted 

 ears like those of the Common 

 and Red Squirrels. Another 

 and very handsome form is that 

 of the California Gray Squirrel 

 (Sciurus fossor) a large variety, 

 which is dark gray above and 

 white below and which has a 

 long and bushy tail. 

 Traits of the There are several varieties of Squirrels in 

 American Fo * ne United States known as Fox Squirrels, 

 o . . the distinguishing characteristics of these 



" ' species are that the under portion, which is 



white in all the species of Squirrels heretofore described, is, 

 in the Fox Squirrels, always dark, and ranges from a russet 

 red through intermediate hues to jet black in different varie- 

 ties. These Fox Squirrels have a length of about twelve 

 inches exclusive of the tail, which is of about the same length. 

 The largest variety of this species is the Black Squirrel (Sciu- 

 rus niger) which inhabits the south Atlantic and Gulf states. It 

 is about thirteen inches long, has a white nose and white ears. 

 These last distinguishing features are not found in the com- 

 mon Fox Squirrel (Sciurus cinereus) which ranges from a light 

 reddish gray to black in color, although when black it has not 

 the white nose and ears of its southern relative. This variety 

 is found through the New England and Middle states, and 

 south to Virginia. The Western Fox Squirrel (Sciurus ludovi- 

 cianus) is always of a reddish hue, including the feet and ears, 

 and its bones are red, but its skin is never jet black. This 

 animal inhabits the entire Mississippi Valley region 



Pechuel-Loesche's The forests of America, Africa and 

 Little African India are populated by Squirrels, 

 Squirrel. some of which are beautifully col- 

 ored, and among these are species which by their 

 lively actions sometimes attract observation as much 

 as do the Monkeys. Some of them are easily do- 

 mesticated besides, and amuse their keeper as much 

 as they surprise him by all kinds of peculiar traits, 

 which cannot be observed in those which roam in 



