226 



RECREATION. 



or in some other way at other times, 

 though not often. Nearly all- the horns 

 shed by these animals could be found in 

 the countries where the animals live if a 

 man should hunt over the ground thor- 

 oughly. 



I have a photograph in my office of a 

 stack of elk horns that it would take a 

 big wagon to haul, all of which were picked 

 up on a space of 10 acres in the Rocky 

 mountains. 1 have found a great many 

 deer, elk and moose horns in the woods 

 when I have been hunting. The horns 

 of these species have no pith in them, 

 as a cow horn has. When shed they drop 

 off at 'the skull, leaving a small round knob, 

 from which the new horn immediately 

 begins to grow. When an animal sheds its 

 horns the new ones begin to grow and are 

 generally full grown 'by the ist of Septem- 

 ber. Up to that time they are covered with 

 velvet or short hair. The animals rub this 

 off by contact with brush. You have prob- 

 ably seen, when you have been in the 

 woods, small bushes that have been broken 

 to pieces by the deer rubbing the velvet 

 off their horns. — Editor. 



WHITE SQUIRRELS ARE ALBINOS. 

 Enclosed find a newspaper clipping re- 

 garding the shooting of 2 white squirrels : 



Stanley Botens shot a pure white squirrel on 

 Mt. Monroe, about 6 miles from this village. 

 Though few specimens of this handsome little 

 squirrel are found, this is the second killed in 

 this vicinity this season. A few weeks ago Dan- 

 iel Totten shot a white squirrel about half a mile 

 from where the other was killed. Probably both 

 animals were of the same family. — Cuba (N. Y.) 

 Patriot. 



I was surprised to hear of a pure white 

 squirrel. Do they belong to the same 

 class as white owls and white rabbits? It 

 seems deplorable that a person should be 

 so thoughtless and cruel as to murder such 

 pretty creatures, especially when so rarely 

 seen. I should like to read more about the 

 white squirrel in the natural history de- 

 partment of Recreation. 



W. O. Isaacson, Corry, Pa. 



ANSWER. 



No, there is no such thing as a species of 

 white squirrel. The animals mentioned in 

 the clipping you sent were simply albino 

 grey squirrels. Albinism occurs at rare 

 intervals in nearly all wild animals and in 

 many species of birds. You can find speci- 

 mens of white squirrels, chickens, porcu- 

 pines, chipmunks, flying squirrels, crows, 

 prairie chickens, quails, grouse, hawks, etc., 

 in almost any large museum. True albinos 

 have pink eyes. These birds and animals 

 appear without color simply because of the 

 absence of coloring pigment in the blood 

 or the hair of the animal. In other words, 

 the albino is an accident. You may occa- 

 sionally see albino people. These have 

 white hair, eyebrows and eyelashes and 



pink eyes. I have a live white squirrel in 

 my office, which is a beautiful and inter- 

 esting pet. If you ever come to New York 

 drop in and see him. — Editor. 



MINK. 



The mink is found in America, in 

 Northern Europe and Asia. It is carnivor- 

 ous and belongs to the weasel family. The 

 mink of the Eastern United States is 12 

 to 18 inches in length, extremely slender, 

 and has a long neck and small head. The 

 color varies through light 'brown, brown 

 and dark brown ; the darker the pelt the 

 greater its value. 



These sly little animals live along the 

 streams, feeding on fish, especially trout 

 when they can be had, and on frogs, mice, 

 muskrats and other small animals. 



They are great ramblers in spring, when 

 they will travel many miles in one night. 

 Often they will go great distances from one 

 stream to another. 



Their breeding season commences about 

 May ist. The female is much smaller than 

 the male, and has 4 to 6 young to a litter. 

 She keeps them hidden until about half 

 grown, lect the male destroy them. The 

 best time to trap mink is in November ; 

 then they will take bait, while in December 

 and January they will not notice it. The 

 best way to capture them is to find their 

 runs, where you can guide them into your 

 traps without alarming them. Set your trap 

 where they are certain to go, cover it with 

 grass or leaves, and you are fairly sure 

 to capture your game. There are apparent- 

 ly' many more male than female mink. 



R. K. Duxbury, Pine Plains, N. Y. 



NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 



While in the woods just before the open- 

 ing of the squirrel season I noticed several 

 greys cutting in a hickory. Presently one 

 came running down the tree with a nut in 

 his mouth, passing within 8 or 10 feet of 

 where I stood motionless. He eyed me 

 attentively, evidently wondering what par- 

 ticular class of stump I represented. Final- 

 ly he gave it up and dug a hole 5 or 6 

 inches deep in the soft mould. Into that 

 he dropped the nut he had brought and 

 covered it carefully, forcing down the earth 

 with his nose as a dog buries a bone. 



It occurred to me then that if the squir- 

 rel did not return for it there would be 

 another young hickory growing next year. 



The nut would not germinate if left on 

 the ground or under a thin covering of 

 leaves, All who have tried to dig up a 

 yearling hickory or oak know that the 

 germ or seed must have been deeply buried 

 in the first place. Possibly we owe much 

 of our hardwood to the squirrels. 



Walter Lusson, Ardmore, Pa. 



Most assuredly we do, and this is an- 

 other reason why we should not kill the 

 squirrels. Editor. 



