I04 Next to the Ground 



much better than to run along the ground. 

 Sometimes they feed upon the fallen berries, 

 but commonly they do their own picking, 

 crawling supplely along even the slenderest 

 berry-bearing twigs, snatching ofF a ripe berry, 

 and backing with it to a stouter branch, there 

 to sit upright and devour it. Paws and muz- 

 zles grow deeply dyed with the purple juice, 

 as a little later they may be browned by young 

 walnut hulls. Walnut hulls are, however, so 

 thick and full of acrid juice, squirrels leave 

 them untouched unless hazelnuts have blasted, 

 and cornfields are very far off, and very well 

 guarded. 



Corn in the milk is a feast to them — hence 

 the necessity of shooting. Were the woods 

 allowed to fill with them, they would destroy 

 acres of corn in a night. They run up the 

 stalks, cling fast to a roasting-ear, deftly strip 

 off half the husk, and gnaw the milky grain, 

 sucking the milk as it drips. Full-fed they 

 drop down and run away, to come back in an 

 hour for another meal. That means the 

 spoiling of a second ear — they do not feed 

 twice in the same place — nor will one squir- 

 rel eat the nut another has begun to gnaw, 

 unless he has snatched it and run off with it. 

 Corn is eaten from the time the grain first 

 swells until it is hard — hence an active 

 squirrel colony prove somewhat expensive 



