WINTER 



munks were secure in their hollows 

 underground or in the stumps, and 

 seldom ventured out, as their food sup- 

 plies were hidden in places easy of 

 access, and they were very sleepy. Un- 

 derneath the thick pile of pine brush 

 the cottontails found shelter through 

 the day and dozed in quiet sleep. At 

 night they quietly came forth to nibble 

 at the tender bark of certain shrubs 

 and search out the protruding points 

 of grass. This was a new world to all 

 the younger ones who first saw the light 

 of day in the Summer j us t passed. Now, 

 full grown, they started forth upon 

 strangely unfamiliar ways, so deeply 

 covered with this soft, white, yielding 

 blanket were their customary paths. 

 This was a new experience added to 

 their furtive lives, but, after the first 

 few timid hops, they, like all wild crea- 

 tures, accepted it as part of the great 

 scheme of life. 



The muskrats down in the bank by 

 the old pond had made a dry, warm 

 nest whose only entrance was through 

 a hole underneath the water-line. The 

 vagrant mink, who came searching 

 87 



