GLIMPSES OF WILD LIFE 129 



Several times I have had calls from wood- 

 chucks. One looked in at the open door of my 

 study one day, and, after sniffing a while, and 

 not liking the smell of such clover as I was com- 

 pelled to nibble there, moved on to better pas- 

 tures. Another one invaded the kitchen door 

 while we were at dinner. The dogs promptly 

 challenged him, and there was a lively scrimmage 

 upon the door-stone. I thought the dogs were 

 fighting, and rushed to part them. The inci- 

 dent broke in upon the drowsy summer noon, 

 as did the appearance of the muskrat upon the 

 frigid December night. 



The woodchuck episode that afforded us the 

 most amusement occurred one midsummer. We 

 were at work in a newly-planted vineyard, when 

 the man with the cultivator saw, a few yards in 

 front of him, some large gray object that at first 

 puzzled him. He approached it, and found it to 

 be an old woodchuck with a young one in her 

 mouth. She was carrying her kitten as does a 

 cat, by the nape of the neck. Evidently she 

 was moving her family to pastures new. As 

 the man was in the line of her march, she 

 stopped and considered what was to be done. 

 He called to me, and I approached slowly. As 

 the mother saw me closing in on her flank, 

 she was suddenly seized with a panic, and, drop- 



