QUADRUPEDS. 



251 



CAT AND SQUIRRELS. 



A boy has taken three little young squir- 

 rels in their nest, or drey as it is called in 

 these parts. These small creatures he put 

 under the care of a cat who had lately lost 

 her kittens, and finds that she nurses and 

 suckles them with the same assiduity and 

 affection as if they were her own offspring. 

 This circumstance corroborates my suspi- 

 cion, that the mention of exposed and de- 

 serted children being nurtured by female 

 beasts of prey who had lost their young, 

 may not be so improbable an incident as 

 many have supposed ; and therefore may 

 be a justification of those authors who 

 have gravely mentioned, what some have 

 deemed to be a wild and improbable story. 



So many people went to see the little 

 squirrels suckled by a cat, that the foster 

 mother became jealous of her charge, and 

 in pain for their safety ; and therefore hid 

 them over the ceiling, where one died. 



