The Red Squirrel 151 



roots of various shrubs and trees which he finds 

 among his haunts. Even mushrooms are eaten — 

 and just how a red squirrel knows the difference 

 betweem the poisonous and the non-poisonous va- 

 rieties has always been a mystery to me, but I 

 have never seen any but the edible ones collected 

 by the squirrels ; nor have I discovered even a tooth- 

 mark upon the others. Mushrooms decay quickly if 

 not gathered at the proper time; and the red squirrels, 

 who know this as well as we do, harvest them accord- 

 ingly. Then there are the barberries, chokeberries, 

 greenbrier-berries, and partridge berries which they 

 can add to their store; but these are not exclusively 

 the red squirrel's, for the bluejays, partridges, quail, 

 and mice come in for their share. The chickaree, as 

 the red squirrel is often called, also makes a point 

 of storing cones from the pine, spruce, and hemlock, 

 the seeds of these being agreeable to him when the 

 branches are coated with ice, and the snow is deep 

 through his forest home. He begins the harvest of 

 the cones quite early, when the other crops are not 

 pressing, cutting them from the trees and letting them 

 fall to the ground, where they dry within a few days. 

 The squirrel does not gather these cones without 

 this preliminary process of seasoning, for if not 

 properly cured the seeds would mold. 



