Mammal Craftsmen. 



a twig to reach a fruit or nut which is otherwise 

 inaccessible. 



The tiny Harvest Mouse is a wonderfully expert 

 little architect, and provides for its offspring one of 

 the daintiest cradles formed by any Mammal. The 

 globular nest is placed, according to the locality, upon 

 several grass leaves split and interwoven with the other 

 materials, or suspended at a height of from eighteen 

 inches to three feet above the ground, upon the twigs 

 of some shrub, or between the stalks of tall, strong 

 grasses or corn. It is composed externally of slit leaves 

 of the reeds or grasses among which it is found, the 

 little mouse, with the aid of its sharp teeth, carefully 

 dividing each leaf longitudinally into six or eight 

 threads, which are then all woven together so as to 

 produce a wonderfully firm, compact structure. Within, 

 the nest is stuffed with all sorts of soft plant substances 

 so closely that one wonders how mother mouse can 

 find room for housing her youngsters. The completed 

 nest, about the size of a cricket ball, is really a wonderful 

 piece of work. 



The Musquash, although essentially a burrower, 

 under certain conditions will construct what is called 

 a hut to live in. The animal is a native of North 

 America, being most numerous in Canada and Alaska, 

 where it frequents the rivers, lakes, and ponds. In 

 some respects its habits somewhat resemble those of 

 the beaver, and for this reason it was called the beaver's 

 little brother by the Indians ; while another popular 

 name, that of the Musk Rat, it gains from the musk 

 odour diffused by the secretions of a large gland. The 

 animal generally lives in a burrow which it digs in the 



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