THE LIFE OF MAMMALS 
all of the seeds, just as our eastern squirrels obtain the meats of the larger 
nuts. . Squirrels ordinarily reach the seeds of conifers by stripping 
off the scales from the cones.” 18 
Carnivorous tastes prevail among them, and trappers are 
constantly annoyed by these little meddlers springing the traps 
baited with flesh for martens and the like. Some species are 
arrant robbers of birds’ nests, and now and then kill and eat 
small birds and mammals; and the older males are resolutely 
kept away from their babies by the mothers for fear of their 
teeth. This catholic appetite, and their willingness to wander 
from place to place in search of things seasonable, enable squir- 
rels to find food of some sort every month of the year, yet most 
species have the forethought to lay up in more or less secret 
places a winter supply of provender; consequently no species 
(of Sciurus) hibernates, strictly speaking. Their pretty way 
of sitting up on their great haunches and holding a nut in the 
fore paws while they cut through its shell, is characteristic of 
the tribe. Their fur, especially of the big Siberian species, is 
an important article in commerce; and their flesh is eaten 
largely in all of the colder countries. 
Any detailed account of our eastern squirrels is. needless, 
but some western species are less well known. Familiar in 
Ghcceeen California and Oregon is the sprightly Douglas 
Squirrels. squirrel, in summer olive-brown with orange breast 
and feet; there is a black lateral line, and the tail is reddish 
black above, fringed and lined with orange. In the Rocky 
Mountains lives Fremont’s squirrel, which is mainly yellowish 
gray. A large tufted-eared relative of the Southwest is Abert’s, 
found only in the lofty pine forests, the behavior of which has 
been portrayed by Dr. Merriam ™?: — 
“Tt is common everywhere in the pines, and is particularly fond of the 
large seeds of Pinus flevilis.... It builds large covered nests of green pine 
branches, but also avails itself of holes in trunks... On reaching the tree 
of its choice, it climbs to the very top and then, unlike any other squirrel 
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