284 THE SQUIRREL. 



demoralised and dazed with fear, turning and 

 showing fight before even making a proper attempt 

 to escape. Quite recently I found a squirrel out 

 on an open moor, several hundred yards from 

 the nearest pine-fringe, though goodness knows 

 what he was doing there ! The heather was deep 

 enough for him to escape unseen, yet he persisted 

 in running round in circles, uttering the most 

 unspeakable abuse, and making himself entirely 

 absurd. His behaviour was reminiscent of that 

 of a foolish little musk-rat who, caught far 

 from his beloved pond, turned and held up a 

 team of horses with its lusty band of lumbermen 

 till some one ended the performance by throwing 

 a coat over him ! 



USE OF TAIL. 



Squirrels are particularly partial to forest-glades 

 through which a stream winds its course, for 

 here the unimpeded sunlight falls with its full 

 warmth to the ripening of the water-side harvest. 

 It is no uncommon thing for one of them to 

 fall into the water ; in fact, the observer is tempted 

 to think that they sometimes do this purposely in 

 hot weather, for, as already shown, the squirrel 

 is a moderately good swimmer. He thinks 

 nothing of crossing a burn by leaping from stone 

 to stone, plunging in should there be no stone 

 conveniently placed. When in the water the 

 squirrel has an odd habit of jerking its tail at 

 intervals, and this motion is apt to attract the 

 attention of large fish lurking in the depths. Pike 

 or large trout will snap at anything, and, as Seton 

 points out, many a squirrel has lost its tail while 

 swimming owing to the attack of these fresh-water 

 sharks. The skin strips away from the bone at 



