48 NATURE STUDY LESSONS FOR PRIMARY GRADES 



VII 



THE FIRST THREE MONTHS IN THE 



LIFE OF A GRAY SQUIRREL 



(Spent in a Schoolroom) 



Our school children had the rare opportunity in 

 the spring of '97 of observing three gray squirrels, 

 from the time of their birth. 



We had had the mother of these babies for 

 about six weeks, when, on Monday morning, March 

 15, our janitor found in the cage five little squirrels. 

 Two died shortly after birth. The little squirrels 

 were perfectly naked, not a hair on the whole body. 

 The bodies of the two largest were two inches 

 long, the tails one and one fourth inches long, and 

 the legs three fourths of an inch long. They were 

 very dark red, with the heads darker than the 

 body. The ears were no larger than radish or 

 flax seeds. Their eyes were as large as sweet peas, 

 but were closed tightly. Their toe nails were black, 

 with a white tip, and were well developed. 



The mother purred to them harshly. The babies 

 mewed — a single mew at a time; their voices 

 sounded like those of kittens. We saw two of them 

 getting their dinner the second morning. Their 



