THE SQUIRREL. 287 



other squirrels occupied the grounds. This proved 

 conclusively, then, that one little criminal was 

 responsible for all the damage, and that the bad 

 habit he had acquired was not shared by the 

 squirrel community in general. One squirrel with 

 which I became well acquainted took up the 

 uncommon pursuit of fishing. This animal lived 

 alone in the Knocknarling valley, near the town 

 of New Galloway, one of those quiet spots Nature 

 provides for her peace-loving kindred. It was 

 a favourite haunt of the roe-deer, and whenever 

 I went that way, keeping a weather -eye open, 

 and moving silently through the trees, I invariably 

 saw their graceful forms floating ahead through 

 the undergrowth. 



The squirrel was invariably to be seen near 

 the same bend in the burn, and several times I 

 noticed him paddling about in the shallow water 

 as though searching for pebbles. This struck me 

 as curious, and, watching closely, one day I saw 

 him take what looked like a nut from the 

 water, crack it in his jaws, and proceed to con- 

 sume its contents. This done, he continued to 

 paddle, keeping his tail high and dry ; but, find- 

 ing nothing further, he ran down-stream, and there 

 repeated the performance. 



Going quietly up, I discovered that the objects 

 of the squirrel's quest were a species of small 

 water-snail or fresh-water winkle ! Here is an 

 example of a squirrel developing very unusual 

 individual tastes, turning from the trees to the 

 widely different pastime of ' angling ' ! 



In America I have known the squirrels to be- 

 come as multifarious in their tastes as the bears, 

 visiting the lake-shores in search of dead fish or 

 other carrion washed up on the margin, or gorging 



