72 WINTER REFUGES OF MOLES AND SHREWS. 



in a wooded region such exceptions would be extremely rare. "In con- 

 sequence of his good cheer, this squirrel is seen actively scampering about 

 in cold weather, when his hungry cousins cannot pluck up courage to 

 leave their warm abodes in search of food." 



By "hungry consins" I mean the gray and the fox squirrels. 

 Living in the hollows of old trees and in woven nests of leaves and 

 grass, they do not hide in their homes food for winter use, but bury great 

 numbers of acorns and nuts, one by one, under the leaves all about the 

 neighborhood. These are dug up ; and no matter how deep the snow 

 may be, the squirrel knows, or has a way of finding out, precisely where 

 each morsel is hidden. It is interesting and amusing to see them dive 

 into the fleecy drift, disappearing from sight in a twinkling, to reappear 

 a second or two later with a nut in their claws. It has been said usually 

 that they remembered where each specimen had been buried ; but from 

 their behavior I do not believe this, for they seem regularly to seek out 

 the place of each deposit, and to know for certain when they have found 

 it. Whether this is done through their sense of smell, as their actions 

 seem to indicate, or by some other means, remains to be proved. 



When the snow is very deep, however, the squirrels do not depend 

 much upon these buried stores, but search diligently for such nuts and 

 mast as may still cling to the branches, and they eat many berries, buds, 

 or even bark. Sleet and an icy crust are their worst causes of dread, and 

 when the woods are encased in icy raiment the squirrels are often hard 

 pressed -for sustenance. 



Shrews and moles, living chiefly underground, have a natural refuge 

 from' inclemency of climate, and none of them become torpid. The mole 

 {I mean the shrew-mole, Scalops aquations) appears to be less active in 

 winter than in summer, but this may be partly because lie is then obliged 

 to burrow so deeply beneath the frozen top-soil that his work is imper- 

 ceptible. Godman remarks that at that season moles resort to the vicin- 

 ity of streams where the ground is warmer, and says that in the Southern 

 States traces of them may be found in the fields all the year round. The 

 moles, nevertheless, are not so hardy, nor ever so active in cool weather 

 as the shrews, which, notwithstanding their diminutive size, wander to 

 far more northerly latitudes, and treat with defiance the most severe cold ; 

 these little animals, however, do not force their tunnels through the soil, 

 as a rule, bnt run galleries under the matted leaves, and make for them- 

 selves winter larders of seeds and dead insects beneath old logs and 

 refuse-heaps. The hibernation of the star-nosed mole is only partial. 



As for the bats — also insect-eaters — they get so benumbed and torpid 



