406 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY 



These various species of Ground squirrels are known by dif- 

 ferent names in different parts of the country. In many locali- 

 ties the people call them Chipmunks, or Chipmucks; elsewhere 

 they bear the name of Hackee; while in the eastern part of the 

 United States Chipping squirrel or Striped squirrel is occasion- 

 ally applied to them. They very rarely ascend trees but spend 

 most of their time on the ground, or scampering along fence- 

 rails, over stumps and rocks, and live in holes in the ground, 

 usually among the gnarled and exposed roots of some big tree 

 or other. They are extremely frolicsome, and often exhibit but 

 little fear of man's approach, though as domesticated pets they 

 are but rarely interesting. In nature the Chipmunks have many 

 enemies, thousands of them being annually destroyed by the 

 smaller canivora, as well as by hawks and owls. In fact its life 

 is one of continuous peril from these causes. Many are shot by 

 juvenile sportsmen, be it said to their shame, for the harmless 

 little fellows add more than their share to the enlivenment of 

 our forests and glens by their merry chippings and well-known 

 gurgling scoldings common to so many of the smaller squirrels. 

 Says a popular writer: " In the autumn this creature may be seen 

 around the fields of Indian corn, and in the walnut and chestnut 

 woods, filling his ample cheek-pouches, and carrying off his store 

 to his granaries. His hole is generally placed near the roots of 

 trees, or in a decayed stump, or among a heap of rocks, or in a 

 bank of earth, and usually near the forests or fields from which 

 he draws his supplies. Sometimes his retreat has two or three 

 openings; it usually descends almost perpendicularly at first; 

 then it rises with one or two windings, and at last, at the distance 

 of eight or ten feet, terminates in a chamber lined with leaves, 

 amid which the animals sleep. Three or four occupy the place to 

 gether. There are several side-galleries, where the stores of 

 wheat, buckwheat, hazel-nuts, acorns, Indian corn, grass-seeds, 

 walnuts or chestnuts, according to the productions of the local- 

 ity, are deposited. They are exceedingly provident, continuing to 

 add to their supplies till forced into their houses by the inclem- 

 ency of the weather. Often their stores are much beyond the 

 necessities of the winter. The squirrels hibernate in these re- 

 treats, and become somewhat sluggish, but do not approach the 

 unconcious torpidity of the marmot. The young, four or five at a 

 birth, are produced in the spring, and beautiful little creatures 

 they are when first led forth by the mother." 



