SQUIRRELS 



white beloWj which is often so conspicuous in 

 summer, is usually entirely absent in the winter, 

 when, perhaps owing to the greater length of the 

 fur, the line of demarcation is much less distinct 

 and regular. The colour of the tail is practically 

 the same at all seasons. I have often wondered 

 what use the long hairs springing from the wrists 

 of these squirrels could possibly be to their 

 owners. These slender, whisker-like hairs, often 

 an inch and a half or more in length, surround 

 the wrist in a kind of whorl, and may, perhaps, 

 give the squirrel timely notice when his foot 

 comes within grasping distance of an object, as he 

 leaps madly about among the branches with his 

 eyes on other things. 



The red squirrel is apparently affected less by 

 changes of temperature than the other members 

 of his tribe, for he may often be seen hard at 

 work in the hottest weather, and again out on the 

 snow crust at sunrise in the extreme depth of a 

 cold wave. And when, as so often happens, the 

 15 225 



