TUK SOI'TIIKKX Sl^l'IIJRKL. 



places and tliosc i'('mnijiiii«>' arc geiieially limited to the larger tracts 

 of woodland while Ihc Fox .s(iiiirreLs are still coinnioii in most of the 

 open groves. 



The gray scpiiri-el has also been called the migratory s(iuirrel on 

 accGiint of the habit the species formerly had of making L)ng 

 marches or migrations at irrcgnlar intervals. At such tiuies chey 

 gathered in droves of tluaisands and began to move in one direction. 

 Audubon thus describes one of these migrations: "It was in 181;) 

 when we were descending the Ohio River in a Hatboat, chiefly with 

 the intention of seeking for birds then unknown to us. About one 

 hundred miles below Cincinnati, as we were floating down the 

 stream, we observed a large number of scpiirrcls swinuning across 

 the river and we continued to see them at various places until we 

 had nearly reached Smitliland, about one hundred miles above th3 

 mouth of the Ohio. At times they w^ere strewn, as it were, over the 

 surface of the water, and some of them being fatigued, sought a 

 few moments rest on our long steering oar which hung in the water 

 in a slanting direction over the stern of our boat. ' ' 



In Wabash County there w^as a great northward migration of 

 the squirrels in 1834, when they swam the Wabash River in count- 

 less numbers. Mr. E. J. Chansler states on the authority of several 

 old settlers, that the squirrels also migrated in Knox County in 

 1834, and again in 1836 and 1837. 



On the occasion of these migrations the pioneer farmers resorted 

 to various means to get rid of the pests and save their corn. The 

 children were stationed in the fields with bells, tin pans and horse 

 fiddles to frighten them aw^ay. Hundreds were drow^ned while 

 crossing streams and many were shot by the unerring marksmen of 

 those days. A local historian tells of one man who shot 26 without 

 moving from his tracks. 



The species is very prolitic and even this wholesale slaughter 

 would scarcely have held the number in check had it not been ac- 

 companied by clearing the forest and so reducing the available hab- 

 itat of the squirrels. Tw^o litters are usually reared each year. The 

 first is born just at the end of winter, usually during the hrst two 

 weeks of IMarch, in southern Indiana. The parents mate again 

 shortly afterward and the second litter is born any time from July 

 to September. I have seen the young, only just large enough to 

 leave the nest, on the seventh of the latter month. Very young 

 squirrels may also -be found at times throughout the summer, but 

 it is probable that they are the offspring of the last litter of the 

 previous year. 



