102 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 



whether they are of any use to the animal or 

 not. It lias been known to carry off even sticks 

 of dynamite. 



Its nests are frequently lined by shredding 

 gunny-sacking or clothing. Polled or folded 

 blankets have been completely riddled by them 

 in their search for stuff to make their beds, 

 which often are placed in queer situations. A 

 correspondent in British Columbia tells of one 

 which inhabited a letter-box nailed against a 

 tree in a lonely locality. 



"I visited him often," he writes, "and on opening 

 the door, his head, with its big round eyes and great 

 round oars, would appear out of his warm bed with 

 an expression of inquiry, but with no sign of fear. 

 He had brought everything in through a knot hole, 

 apparently too small to admit even his body. Before; 

 his nest was stored a pile of Oregon grapes and green 

 leaves, but I could not discover that he ate any of 

 them, although occupying the box for some \veeks." 



On the Pacific coast they are fond of estab- 

 lishing themselves in the sod roofs of log cabins 

 or used to be, when such structures were 

 more common than nowadays and become a 

 nuisance. 



A capable thief. The following account, 



