S(II:RLS lIlDSOXirS. - 21/ 



clone a nunil^er of times, the Squirrel g-ainino- c^ach time two or 

 three boat's lenii^ths, till finalK' he succeeded in reaching the shore. 

 1 ha\e repeatedly been told by hunters and guides that they 

 occasionalh- meet these Scjuirrels swimming \arious lakes and rixcrs 

 in the Wilderness, and James Higby tells me that in June, iS;; 

 he saw as many as fifty crossing Big Moose Lake, and that they 

 were all headed the same way — to the north. 



I am informed b)" Dr. A. K. b'isher that at the southern end of 

 Lake (leor^re, in early autumn, it is sometimes an e\er)-da\- 

 occurrence to see Red S(iuirrels swimming across the lake, from 

 west to east — never in the opposite direction. The chestnut grows 

 abundantly on the eastern side of the lake, but it is comparatively 

 scarce on the western, and these extensi\-e migrations always take 

 place in years when the yield of chestnuts is large.* Mr. Winslow 

 C. Watson, in his History of Essex County, says: " Tiu' autumn 

 of 1851 afforded one of these i)eriodical invasions of Lssex county. 

 It is well authenticated, that the red scpiirrel was constantly seen 

 in the widest parts of the lake | Lake Champlain |. far out from land, 

 swimming towards the shore, as if familiar with the service; their 

 heads above water, and their bush)- tails erect and expanded, and 

 apparently spread to the l)ree/e. Reaching land, they stopped for 

 a moment, and relieving their active! and vigorous little bodies from 

 the water, b\- an energetic shake or two. they bounded into the. 

 woods, as light and free as if the\- had made no extraordinary 



effort." 



Hawks and owls are the Sciuirrel's mortal enemies, often seizing 

 him unawares; but his movements are so well timed that if 

 he sees theni coming he Is almost certain to escape. When either 



* A few Squirrels are occasionally seen crossing the lake when the nul-crop is only nuKlcr.itc 

 In September, 1882, Mrs. Kishcr w.as angling between Diamond Island and the west shore when a 

 Red Sciuirrcl swam to the boat and was lifted in by the tail. After resting a few minutes it ran 

 out on an oar, jumped into the .vater and swam to the island (which is half a mile from the west 

 shore), and tlicnce, doubtless, to the chestnut groves on the eastern side of the lake. 



