116 OUR BACKDOOR NEIGHBORS 



as the two-room laboratory and study was 

 called. They would begin their harvest early 

 in the fall, even before frost had loosened the 

 nuts. Climbing the tree, one would find it an 

 easy matter to reach the farthermost tip of a 

 branch, if need be, in order to get the desired 

 nut. He would grasp the nut firmly in the 

 mouth and climb back to a flat place near the 

 body of the tree. Then calmly sitting on his 

 haunches, he would deliberately remove the 

 husk, scattering the bits about the base of the 

 tree. When the nut was free from its outer 

 covering, he would run lightly down the tree 

 and scamper away two or three rods, and 

 quickly bury it in the ground. Again and 

 again he would repeat the process, often 

 more than a dozen times in half an hour. 

 With half a dozen squirrels at work, the Natu- 

 ralist's boys had to be very watchful or they 

 would find no nuts left when they came to 

 gather their share. It is this nut-planting pro- 

 pensity of the fox squirrel that has had much 

 to do with the planting of the original hard 

 wood forests in the Mississippi valley. A 

 squirrel will plant many more nuts in a favor- 

 able season than he can ever use for his own 

 food. The frost of winter will crack the hard 



