182 GNAWING ANIMALS 



rel, and a bewildering array of chipmunks and ground squir- 

 rels. He who fails to learn their names, and make friends 

 with them, loses much pleasure. 



The members of the Squirrel Family are so widely dis- 

 tributed, and have grown so accustomed to man and his 



GRAY SQUIRREL. 



ways, that there are few persons who have not seen at least 

 two or three wild species in their haunts. Their lives are 

 full of incident and interest, and to the young naturalist, ani- 

 mal artist or sculptor they are usually the most available of 

 all wild-animal subjects. 



A very attractive book might be written about the many 

 beautiful and interesting species of squirrels that are found 

 throughout North America, the number of which is surpris- 

 ingly great. The total number of species and subspecies 

 described is 249. Many of these, however, resemble each 

 other so closely that their differences are too slight for our 



