GROUND-SQUIRRELS 147 
and so they can speedily gather, while they are 
plenty, the large stores they need to preserve 
life during the long season of famine ahead; 
and snug in their warm nests deep under the 
sod, they doze away the winter, now and then 
emerging when the February sun tempts them 
out, but for the most part lying close, yet not 
in complete dormancy. 
Taking the freedom of the camp. These 
cheerful little fellows, and especially the four- 
striped Rocky Mountain kind, are extremely 
numerous in the rougher parts of the West, and 
are amusing visitors at every camp and cabin 
until they wear out their welcome by misbe- 
havior. In some of the national forests they 
have proved a great nuisance by Gees up 
newly planted tree-seeds. 
‘In camp,’’ writes an explorer of Mt. Shasta, ‘‘they 
made frequent ‘visits to the mess-box, which they 
clearly regarded as public property, approaching it 
boldly and without suspicion, and showing no concern 
at our presence—in marked contrast to the golden- 
mantled squirrels, which approached silently, stealth- 
ily, and by a circuitous route, in constant fear of 
detection. If disturbed while stuffing their cheek- 
pouches with bits of bread, pancake, or other eatables,. 
