118 A HAND-BOOK OF THE MANAGEMENT OF ANIMALS 



Transport. — A cage two feet long, about a foot broad and high 

 will accommodate a pair. It should be boarded on all sides except the 

 front, where wire netting should be employed. There should be a shelf 

 inside the cage for the animals to sleep upon ; a straw or hay bedding 

 will give them both warmth and concealment, if necessary. A little 

 projection from a side of the cage to introduce the feeding and drinking 

 vessels is a better arrangement than placing them on the bottom. If 

 possible, flying squirrels should not be brought down to the plains in 

 summer. 



Treatment in sickness. 



Worms in the stomach and intestines have been found after death. 

 If their presence is detected when the animal is alive, one or two areca 

 nuts daily for a few days will do the patient good ; a few drops of oil 

 of turpentine dissolved in about half a tea-spoonful of castor or olive 

 oil is an efficacious remedy. It may be made into an emulsion by beating 

 it with yolk of egg. Biscuits or bread smeared with it will be readily 

 eaten. Abnormal growth of the front-cutting teeth, or incisors, is gen- 

 erally induced by improper feeding. It may be arrested by feeding the 

 animal on hard substances ; but if immediate relief be necessary, filing 

 of the teeth should be resorted to. The squirrels, and for that matter 

 all rodents, require something hard to nibble at to keep down the grow- 

 ing point of their incisors, and a few cocoanut shells and small logs of 

 wood should therefore be allowed them. Inflammation of the lungs is 

 another complaint from which squirrels have been known to suffer. 



Observations on the habits of Squirrels. 



Squirrels are restless, inquisitive creatures, always supremely busy 

 about nothing. Some of them become so tame in captivity that, on a 

 cage being approached, its inmate may invariably be seen at its side 

 awaiting food or a friendly greeting. If a nut or a bit of bread be 

 thrown in, it at once springs upon it kitten fashion, takes it into its 

 fore paws, sits upon its haunches, with its bushy tail arching upon its 

 back, and begins devouring the morsel bit by bit ; if alarmed, it bounds 

 away uttering sharp chirping notes, and seeks concealment in its nest 

 box. Soon it may be seen peering from the nest-hole, satisfied that 

 there is nothing to be afraid of ventures out, but quickly withdraws 

 on the first alarm. Most of the Indian species are tamer than most of 

 those from the Malayan islands. The flying squirrels are nocturnal 

 animals ; they sleep during the day and come out at night. 



(133) THE HIMALAYAN MAEMOT. 



(ARCTOMYS HODaSONI— Blanf.) 



Description. — Form thick-set, legs short, tail short, general colour 

 dark grey with a rufous tinge ; fur of the head and back mixed with 

 black ; tip of the tail dusky brown. 



Hab. — Nepal, Sikhim, and Bhutan. 



