culiar manner. A writer says: "They 

 are so unselfish that they do not think 

 of hiding their supply of mushrooms, but 

 pin them on the pine needles or in larch 

 woods on the small twigs. There they 

 leave the mushrooms to dry, and in times 

 of scarcity of food these stores are of 

 good service to some roaming individual 

 of their kind. " 



All their- senses are especially well de- 

 veloped. Even when asleep in their 

 nests, a suspicious sound will awaken 

 them and they are immediately alert and 

 active. Even the early Latin and Greek 

 writers appreciated the keenness of their 

 powers of perception. Pliny says : "The 

 squirrel, also, has the power of foresee- 

 ing storms and so, stopping up the hole 

 at the side from which the wind blows, 

 it leaves the other side open." Regard- 

 ing their habit of storing food, he says : 

 "It appears, therefore, that some animals 

 lay up a store of food for the winter, 

 while others pass the time in sleep, which 

 serves them instead." While timid, they 

 also have a vein of curiosity. It is in- 

 teresting to watch their antics when 

 frightened by an intruder in their haunts. 

 Slyly and cunningly they retreat and like 

 a flash dart to the highest branches of 

 some neighboring tree, into a hole in its 

 trunk, or into their nests ; but they can- 

 not resist the temptation to peep at the 

 intruder from their retreat. Mr. Long- 

 fellow speaks of this habit in "The Song 

 of Hiawatha" : 



From his ambush in the oak-tree 

 Peeped the squirrel, Adjidauno, 

 Watched with eager eyes the lovers. 



While young, all squirrels are playful, 

 full of energy and keenly delight in be- 

 ing petted. As they grow older, how- 

 ever, even the tamest individuals must 

 be handled with care, for they will us- 

 ually bite on the slightest provocation, 

 and their sharp teeth may inflict a pain- 

 ful wound. 



Among the American squirrels proba- 

 bly the gray species is the best known, 

 for their habits lead them to live in more 

 public places than do the red or Fox 

 squirrels. "They are quick to perceive 

 the advantages to be had in a civilized 

 community, while the love of stillness 

 and the untainted air of the forest does 

 not appear to.be universal among them." 



If undisturbed, they may even make their 

 home in the hollows of the trunks or 

 branches of shade trees. "Here they 

 live and raise their families and lav up 

 stores for winter, above rattling streets 

 and humming wires, perfectly indifferent 

 to the noise and heating air that reeks 

 of human beings crowded together like 

 cattle." Gray squirrels seem to fully 

 appreciate the kindly protection of man. 

 In the forests they and the other squir- 

 rels must be constantly watching for 

 their enemies. The most formidable of 

 their foes are probably the martens and 

 weasels. These animals are not only 

 agile, seizing their prey from a place of 

 concealment, but they can also climb and 

 may follow a squirrel to the topmost 

 branches of a tree. Foxes are easily 

 avoided by the squirrels climbing a tree, 

 and the attacks of hawks and owls are 

 avoided by the squirrels spiralling 

 around a tree trunk as they rapidly climb. 

 There are several varieties of the Fox 

 Squirrels which inhabit various portions 

 of the United States. These are the 

 northern, the western and the southern. 

 All are large and easily adapt themselves 

 to the requirements of the environment 

 which they may inhabit. The home of 

 a Fox Squirrel may be either a hole in a 

 tree or a nest of dry leaves built in its 

 branches. When a hole is selected it is 

 lined with leaves, dry grass, strips of 

 soft fibrous bark and sometimes pieces 

 of cloth and animal hair. Fox Squirrels 

 are not as inclined to store a supply of 

 food for inclement and cold weather as 

 are some of their relatives. They trust 

 to their ability to find food from day to 

 day and they avoid, or migrate from, 

 regions that are covered with deep snow 

 for a considerable time. In his instruc- 

 tive book, "American Animals," Mr. 

 Witmer Stone says of the fox squirrels : 

 "In rough weather they keep close at 

 home in their hollow trees, choosing to 

 go hungry rather than face the cold. In 

 warm weather they gather wild fruit, 

 berries and mushrooms and go into the 

 cornfields as soon as the ears have 

 reached the milky stage. Among the 

 southern pines they make large nests of 

 Spanish moss in the treetops, and here 

 they bring the cones which they cut off, 

 just as the red squirrels do the cones of 



