THE SQUIRREL. 403 



next thing is to find the squirrel, which, perhaps, is spread flat out on 

 his belly, on one of the topmost branches of the tree, the color of 

 his fur assimilating so closely to that of the bark that it is almost 

 impossible to discover him. In a few moments, however, the 

 hawk-eyed shooter catches sight of his victim as he moves for 

 an instant to hide himself more securely from observation ; the 

 sharp report of the rifle is immediately heard resounding afar in 

 the distance, and down tumbles the once frolicsome little squirrel, 

 a lifeless thing. 



When pursued or watched, squirrels instinctively dodge around 

 the opposite side of the tree occupied by the sportsman, and, by 

 perseveringly pursuing this course, will often baffle the shooter till 

 his patience becomes entirely exhausted ; it is, therefore, always 

 better to go in company when squirrel-shooting is the sport, so 

 that either yourself or companion may contrive to get sight of 

 every one that takes to a tree. 



BARKING SQUIRRELS. 



This original method of killing squirrels is pursued as a pas- 

 time by shooters inhabiting districts of country where these ani- 

 mals are numerous. The whole secret, or rather art, of barking 

 squirrels, is to strike with the bullet immediately under that por- 

 tion of the limb upon which the animal is stretched out, in such a 

 manner that the blow will shiver the bark, and, killing the squirrel 

 by the concussion, send it whirling in the air to the ground, " as 

 if it had been blown up by the explosion of a powder-magazine." 



This is a very artistic way of killing squirrels, and many of our 

 Pennsylvania hunters are very expert at it. The skin is not in- 

 jured, nor the flesh torn, by this mode of shooting. 



FLESH. 



The flesh of several varieties of squirrels is most excellent. 

 They should be voided and kept several days in cold weather. 



