248 MAMMALIA 



occasionally take a more elevated view of the earth. Concerning 

 these " tree-climbing Woodchucks " I quote from an article on 

 the subject that I once wrote for Fores/ ami SfrcaDi : — 

 " Woodchucks, when unmolested, and particularl)- during their 

 youthful days, often climb up ten or twelve feet in shrubbery 

 and \()ung trees that abound in low branches, and not infrequently 

 scramble up the trunks of large trees which ha\-e partially fallen or 

 slant sufhcientl)- to insure them against slipping. Occasionally, 

 especially when hard jM'essed b\- a fast approaching enem)-, they 

 ascend large erect trees whose lowest branches are some distance 

 from the ground. But, in order to do this, the)- must take 

 advantage of the impetus of a rush, for tlu;\- cannot start slowly 

 upon the trunk of an upright tree and climb more than a few feet 

 without falling. Neither can they stop and go on again before 

 reaching a branch or other resting place."* 



In the American .Vaiiiraiisi for September, 1881 (pp. 7 2)7-7 Z'^), 

 the Hon. Charles Aldrich, of Webster City, Iowa, writes : " About 

 two years ago a young man who was li\-ing with me, came in one 

 day sa\'ing that he had just sccmi a small animal, possibly a raccoon, 

 ascending a tree in the woods some sixt\- rods awa)-. Taking m\ 

 shot-gun, I went to the place, where I soon saw the creature in the 

 top of a black oak tree, almost forty feet from the ground. The 

 animal seemed very cunning, and managed for some time to keep 

 on the opposite side of some of the larger limbs, but I finally got 

 a shot at him. He came to the ground with a bounce, when I 

 found it was a woodchuck. It was but slightly wounded in one of 

 the fore legs, and I captured it and took it home. I put it in a 

 hollow tree near my residence, and it remained there a couple of 

 weeks, freely eating the corn which I regularl\- fed it." 



As a rule the Woodchuck manifests great antipathy for water. 

 In confincMiient he rarely partakes of it, and in the wild state his 

 burrows are frequently so remote from it as to preclude the idea 



* Forest and Streum, Vol. XVI, No. 23, July 7, 1881, p. 453, 



