THE SQUIRREL'S STORE 



THE storing instinct is shown by diverse kinds of 

 animals at different levels of organisation. It 

 must have been evolved over and over again independently. 

 We think at once of ants, harvest-mice, beavers, even 

 moles a few of the animals that store as the squirrel does. 

 Perhaps it is just a step or two in advance of the not un- 

 common habit of hiding or burying surplus food, but we 

 can readily understand how important it is in countries 

 where there is scarcity of food in Winter, and for animals 

 whose food keeps well, and which do not hibernate. 



Storing is an autumnal industry on the squirrel's part. 

 Hazel-nuts, beech-nuts, and acorns are hidden in many 

 separate hoards, for the wisdom of not putting all the eggs 

 into one basket has been realised in practice at least. It 

 is interesting to notice that the young squirrels, which are 

 born about May, remain at home for a year, which is 

 perhaps another reason for storing. 



It is difficult to say what a squirrel will not eat, from 

 fruits to the eggs and young of wood-pigeons, from fir-cones 

 to sappy shoots, but its characteristic food is the hazel- 

 nut. Holding the nut in its paws, the squirrel cuts a circle 

 so that the shell falls into two parts, often halves, and it 

 peels off all the brown skin before it begins to bite. Gilbert 

 White pointed out long ago that " there are three creatures, 

 the squirrel, the field-mouse, and the bird called the nut- 

 hatch, which live much on hazel-nuts ; and yet they open 

 them each in a different way. The first, after rasping off 



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