218 IN BERKSHIRE FIELDS 



instantly with a sharp yip of pain. But, being a 

 collie, he maintained his dignity. He immediately 

 became absorbed in the contemplation of a tree on 

 the river-bank, toward which he moved sedately, as 

 if that had been his objective all the while. He paid 

 no further attention to the woodchuck. 



But we did. We drew close, and the chuck rose 

 on his toes, with back slightly arched like a cat, and 

 with hair and tail bristling, too. He bared his teeth 

 and made an angry, snarling sound — and then sud- 

 denly bolted forward in a bee-line for the female in 

 our party. She forgot everything but first principles, 

 screamed and ran. The chuck passed over the exact 

 spot where she had stood, went on several rods, and 

 disappeared down a hole under a stone. Evidently he 

 knew women ; he expected her to get out of the way ! 



We now investigated the defeated rival, who had 

 disappeared over the river-bank, which was at this 

 point a sharp escarpment of clay loam, perpendic- 

 ular at the top and sloping a little six feet below at 

 water-line. Sure enough, beneath the overhang of 

 grass, squatted cowering on the mud, was the other 

 woodchuck, looking up at us with bright, terrified 

 eyes as we lowered a stick to poke him into the 

 water. He was evidently extremely loath to take 

 to the stream, but the stick was insistent, and after 

 futilely snapping at it several times, once getting 

 such a grip that he almost pulled it out of our hands, 

 he finally fell into the water, where he turned tail to 

 the shore and swam rapidly to the other side, climbed 

 out, shook himself, scrambled up the bank, and ran 

 clumsily, but swiftly, away in the grass. 



The woodchuck shows strategy, too, not only in 



