12 WILD NEIGHBORS CHAP. 
while they will raise a great clamor whenever a 
stranger walks about under the trees. More than 
this, they seem to know the Doctor’s horse and 
carriage, and pay no attention to its goings and 
comings, but become excited whenever another 
vehicle enters the premises. They will stay quietly 
eating on the window-sill while one of us sits just 
inside the glass, but when they see a visitor in the 
room will almost invariably seize a nut and scamper 
away as fast as they can go. Furthermore their 
actions convince us that when, as often happens 
in midsummer, Dr. Phillips meets one of our squir- 
rels in some far-away street, the little animal 
recognizes him and shows its confidence in his 
accustomed kindness; but I have never been 
recognized in that way, to my knowledge. 
As pets these squirrels are not greatly in de- 
mand,—not so much so as the flying-squirrels, 
which crawl inside your coat and appeal to your 
affection at once. The grays are so mischievous, 
trying their strong teeth on everything and dam- 
aging furniture and hangings so rapidly, that we 
never dared admit them to the house on terms of 
intimacy, and as for confining them in a cage, it 
was never thought of. 
In spite of some stories I have heard and read, 
I am under the impression that an attempt to 
make a real pet of one would prove tiresome, if it 
didn’t fail altogether. The animal is pretty to 
look at, and pleasant to handle, but seems to have 
