or so. It did not seem to care anything 

 for them, and the lot was given to the 

 proprietor of a bird store. One thing, 

 however, the squirrel wanted to do, and 

 that was to bury the whole lot, but this 

 was not permitted. 



In the matter of handling nuts with its 

 little hands the squirrel shows both the 

 greatest skill and dexterity, combined 

 with accurate knowledge of what it is in 

 search of, i. e., nuts that are sound. 

 Taking the nut in its hands it spins it 

 round and round, smelling it all over, 

 then gives it a scrape or two with its 

 sharp teeth. If it is a sound nut it will 

 proceed to dispose of it, either opening 

 it or else hiding it away for future use. 

 If it is an unsound nut it drops it and 

 will have nothing more to do with it. 

 Here is where its knowledge comes in, 

 and its judgment as to whether a nut is 

 good or bad is unerring. It does not 

 have to open it to learn whether it is 

 sound or not; by a way of its own it 

 has found that out, no matter how thick 

 the shell. It does this by its keen sense 

 of smell, while the teeth assures it that 

 the nut gives out a hollow sound and is 

 not good. Every nut the squirrel picks 

 up is put through this same process, and 

 it saves a lot of work, for it is not a very 

 easy task for the little chap to gnaw into 

 the hard shell of a large hickory nut or 

 a black walnut. 



The squirrel eats nothing but clean 

 food, and in order to acquire it will run 

 greater risks in committing little depre- 

 dations than would other small animals. 

 Its quick movements and remarkable 

 alertness has often saved it from what 

 would appear to be certain death. 



The common idea that the squirrel is 

 a strict vegetarian is decidedly incorrect. 

 The squirrel will quickly strip a young 

 bird of its feathers and ravenously de- 

 vour the daintiest parts of it — the wings 

 and leg. Its only trouble is in catching 

 the bird. It will despoil a bird's nest in 

 a trice, and make a meal on the young 

 birds if they are in the nest. Butterflies 

 are a tempting food for it when it can 

 accidentally catch one. I often feed my 

 pet squirrel a piece of a small bird, and 

 in the summer season catch butterflies for 

 its delectation almost every day. 



There is no difficulty whatever in tam- 



ing a squirrel. It is marvelous how soon 

 this pretty little animal will become com- 

 panionable and on the most friendly 

 terms with its captor. Kindness alone 

 and always a proffer of some little tid- 

 bit will win its good opinion. Never 

 frighten it either by strange actions or 

 unusual sounds. Deal gently and kindly 

 with it at all times and your presence and 

 voice will become familiar and the squir- 

 rel will soon understand it has nothing 

 to fear. In a little time you can release 

 it from its cage and give it exercise about 

 the room. While it is a fearless and cour- 

 ageous little animal, and does not seem 

 to apprehend any danger from a dog or 

 cat, these latter are not safe to have 

 around when your squirrel is at liberty. 

 Confinement in a cage all of the time is 

 a cruel experiment for the squirrel, and 

 if persisted in, will in time destroy its 

 activity and seriously impair the use it 

 has of its limbs. When you have ac- 

 quired the complete mastery by kindness, 

 let it out of its cage. Get a small piece 

 of the narrowest silk ribbon and tie 

 around its neck with a firm knot, then 

 with a light "aluminum-steel" chain, 

 some four or five feet long, to which is 

 attached a spring snap, connect with the 

 ribbon, and in a little while you can lead 

 the little fellow around anywhere you go. 

 Get a small strong fish line, thirty to sixty 

 feet long, and give it the exercise it so 

 much needs, in a large yard, or take the 

 little fellow to the parks by putting him 

 in your coat pocket. It will soon learn 

 all that you require, and become a genu- 

 ine thing of pleasure and beauty. 



If you give your squirrel the largest 

 latitude of freedom, the Illinois law 

 (which is probably humane and just) 

 will cause no trouble. My pet squirrel 

 has not been confined in its cage for 

 more than a year. It makes its nest on 

 an upper shelf, and enjoys the full lib- 

 erty of a large room at all times. Much 

 of the time, in seasonable weather, it is 

 out in the open air — proof against the 

 law because it is not kept in confinement. 

 Nature intended the squirrel to know- no 

 bounds to the largeness of its liberty and 

 no limits to its enjoyment. Heartless 

 and witless is the person who would keep 

 the squirrel closely confined in a small 

 cage. I. W. Sickels. 



115 



■MHMHB 



