SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA 



455 



thus destroys must be almost incalculable. The 

 number of red squirrels is very great over a 

 continental area, and one close observer be- 

 lieves each squirrel destroys 200 birds a sea- 

 son. Practically all species of northern warb- 

 lers, vireos, thrushes, chickadees, nuthatches, 

 and others are numbered among their victims. 

 The notable scarcity of birds in northern for- 

 ests may be largely due to these handsome but 

 vicious marauders. 



In the fur country these squirrels are much 

 disliked by the trappers for their constant in- 

 terference with meat-baited traps. Many fall 

 victims to their carnivorous desires, but their 

 places are soon taken by others. 



The energy and unfailing variety in the per- 

 formances of red squirrels always keep the 

 attention of their human neighbors. Among 

 other interesting activities, their pursuit of one 

 another up and down and around the trunks 

 of trees, over the ground, along logs, back and 

 forth in the most reckless abandon, is most 

 entertaining to watch. These pursuits among 

 the young are playful and harmless, but among 

 the males in spring are of the most deadly 

 character. I have seen the victim go up and 

 down tree after tree, shrieking in fear and 

 agony and leaving a trail of blood on the snow 

 as he tried to escape his truculent pursuer. 



Such scenes as this, combined with our knowl- 

 edge of its bird-killing habits, appear belied by 

 the exquisite grace and beauty of this squirrel 

 as it sits on a branch and sends its musical 

 cadences trilling through the primeval forest. 

 So confirmed are red squirrels in the destruc- 

 tion of bird life, however, they should not be 

 permitted to become very numerous anywhere 

 and it may eventually become necessary to 

 outlaw them wherever found, 



THE DOUGLAS SQUIRREL (Sciurus 

 douglasi and its relatives) 



(For illustration, see page 444) 



In all details of size, form, notes, and habits 

 the Douglas squirrel gives testimony to its de- 

 scent from the same ancestral stock as the com- 

 mon red squirrel (Sciurus hudsonicus). The 

 typical Douglas squirrel, represented in the ac- 

 companying illustration, is one of several geo- 

 graphic races of a species which ranges from 

 the Cascades and Sierra Nevada to the Pacific, 

 and from British Columbia south to the San 

 Pedro Martir Mountains of Lower California. 

 The home of the Douglas squirrel is amid the 

 wonderful coniferous forests of western Ore- 

 gon, Washington, and southern British Co- 

 lumbia. As in other mammals of this extremely 

 humid region, the colors of its upperparts are 

 dark brown, in strong contrast to the much 

 paler and grayer colors of the closely related 

 subspecies living in the clearer and more arid 

 climate of the Sierra Nevada in California. 

 These squirrels are known locally by a variety 

 of common names, including pine squirrel, red- 

 wood squirrel, and "drummer." 



Although usually not quite so noisy and self- 



assertive as the irrepressible little red blusterer 

 of eastern forests, the Douglas squirrel is also 

 notable for its rollicking, chattering character 

 and sometimes cannot be outdone in its amus- 

 ing displays of aggressive impudence. When 

 the animals are numerous the air at times re- 

 sounds with their call notes or songs, one 

 answering the other, now near and now far, 

 until the somber depths of the mighty forest 

 seems peopled with a multitude of these joyous 

 furry sprites. Their song, resembling that of 

 thered squirrel, is a rapid trilling or bubbling 

 series of notes, long drawn out and some- 

 times varied by cadences. It is so musical that 

 it seems more like the song of some strange 

 bird than of a mammal. When these squirrels 

 are not common they are much less given to 

 song and seem subdued and shy, as though im- 

 pressed by the vast loneliness of their deep 

 forest haunts. 



At mating time, early in spring, they are 

 especially noisy, and again in summer when the 

 first litter of young are out trying their youth- 

 ful pipes in expression of their cheerful well 

 being. They frequently come down on a low 

 branch or on the trunk of a tree and chatter, 

 bark, and scold at man, dog, or other intruder, 

 now rushing up and down, or making little 

 dashes around the tree trunk, their necks out- 

 stretched and tails flirting with a great show 

 of anger and contempt highly entertaining to 

 see. They are restlessly active at all seasons 

 of the year and habitually chase one another 

 through the forest with an appearance of rol- 

 licking fun which may many times be in more 

 deadly earnest than appears to the casual ob- 

 server. 



In winter their tracks in the snow lead from 

 tree to tree, along the tops of logs and fences, 

 and in all directions to hidden stores of food, 

 which they appear to be able to locate with 

 unerring certainty under the snow. An ad- 

 venturous spirit leads them to race away from 

 the forest, along fence-tops, to pay visits to 

 ranch buildings and even to villages and small 

 towns. Like their eastern relative, the Douglas 

 squirrels are omnivorous, feeding on the seeds 

 of all the conifers in their range, including 

 spruces, firs, pines, and redwoods, and also 

 upon acorns, and a great variety of other seeds, 

 fruits, and mushrooms, insects birds' eggs, 

 young birds, and any other meat they can find. 

 Owing to their habit of interfering with meat- 

 baited traps, they are a nuisance to trappers. 

 They frequently visit orchards and carry off 

 apples and pears, from which they extract the 

 seeds. They have been seen also to visit the 

 wounds made on a willow trunk by sapsuckers 

 to drink the flowing sap. Their feet and the 

 fur about their mouths are often much gummed 

 with pitch from working on pine cones. 



In many places the soft, moist earth in the 

 woods is riddled with little pits dug by these 

 squirrels apparently when they are after larvae 

 or perhaps edible roots. Throughout the sum- 

 mer, but especially during the last half of the 

 season, and in autumn Douglas squirrels work 

 with persistent energy to amass great stores 



