258 WILD NEIGHBORS CHAP, IX 
coming cautiously down a rock, to say that his 
flabby body “ pours itself over the ledge.” His gait, 
he asserts, is no more a waddle than that of the 
ducks, in which farmers take so much delight. But 
all this is only a part of the injustice with which he 
feels that mankind regards his race. It does not 
lead him to retaliate, being a hater of strife, but 
only causes him to withdraw his society as much 
as possible from those who will not treat him with 
respect.. None of us can escape criticism, and 
vanity is universal, but life is too short to be 
wasted in losing one’s temper. 
Most persons agree, however, that when our 
little friend sits up on the tripod of his hind legs 
and short, stiff tail, as he is fond of doing, and 
eats his morsel like a gentleman or a squirrel, — 
when you come to classify him you find him 
nothing but a big ground-squirrel, after all, —the 
woodchuck is an interesting fellow, and not in the 
least ridiculous. His coat is soft reddish brown, 
with a good deal of variety in it, from yellowish 
gray to those Canadian ones that are almost black; 
his nose, chin, and cheeks are gray or yellow- 
ish; his cap, tail, and feet are brownish black; while 
his eyes are large and bright ; and when he pricks 
‘up his ears and looks and listens with his head on 
one side, and his hands drooped in fine-lady 
fashion, there is a “cunning” aspect in his face 
that makes you forgive him all his sins. Once in 
a while a young one will rise up out of the brown 
