THE SQUIRREL. 353 



Buts, chincapins, &c. &c. deposited in one of these spots. The 

 whole, however, may not have been put there by a single indi- 

 vidual, — the stock, perhaps, having been collected together by 

 several, who made this the general depot for all their contribu- 

 tions, each one laboring for the general good, and all, in turn, 

 entitled to a full share of the booty. Each squirrel, most 

 commonly, has several different storehouses, to which he respect- 

 ively resorts according to circumstances. The fact of these in- 

 dustrious little animals providing themselves with more granaries 

 than one for the guarding of their treasures is a striking example 

 of that instinct which we so often see displayed in the inferior 

 works of creation; for their storehouses are often discovered by 

 the keen-scented hog, and the whole devoured at a single meal ; 

 strange squirrels, of a larger variety, will also sometimes locate 

 themselves near one of these deposits, and not only rob it of all its 

 provender, but even deny the anxious owner the privilege of 

 sharing in the general division; a drift of snow, or some other 

 mishap, will occasionally cover one up for weeks at a time. In 

 either of such emergencies as we have described, the poor squirrel 

 would have but a slim chance to get through the winter if he had 

 not provided himself with other secret stores. 



Squirrels are all very cleanly and nice in their habits and gene- 

 ral appearance, and are seen frequently in the course of a day rub- 

 bing their faces with their paws, as if on purpose to wash them off. 



THEIR ACTIVITY AND STRENGTH. 



Squirrels are possessed of great muscular power, and leap with 

 surprising agility and precision from tree to tree ; and, when hotly 

 pursued and unable to reach the adjoining tree so as to effect their 

 escape, will not hesitate to drop themselves from tremendous heights 

 to the ground, and then make off with rapid bounds to the next 

 favorable cluster of trees that stands in their path. 



Audubon remarks that "the squirrel is admirably adapted to a 



residence on trees, for which nature has designed it. Its fingers 



are long, slender, and deeply cleft, and its nails very acute and 



23 



