THE GROUPS OF SQUIRRELS 
69 
about the many beautiful and interesting spe- 
cies of squirrels that are found throughout 
North America, the number of which is surpris- 
ingly great. The total number of species and 
subspecies described is as follows. 
In Mexico and Central America, species, 
about 25, subspecies, about 18, total 43; in the 
United States and Canada, species, about 60, 
subspecies, about 67. The total for North 
America is about 170 species and geographic 
races. Many of these, however, resemble each 
other so closely that their differences are too 
slight for our consideration; and there may be 
a number that are not entitled to stand as in- 
dependent forms. 
Nature has divided the many species of North 
American squirrels into three easily remem- 
bered groups, as follows: 
Tree Squirrels, which live iu the tree-tops. 
Example: Eastern Gray Squirrel. 
Rock Squirrels, which live in rocks, fences 
and among the roots of large trees. Example : 
the Common Chipmunk. 
Ground Squirrels, of prairie countries, which 
burrow deeply in the earth. Example: the 
Striped Spermophile. 
In each of these three groups there are sev- 
eral important types which must be noticed. 
The Tree-Squirrel Group. 
A patch of timber or a wood lot without squir- 
rels always conveys an impression of lonesome 
solitude and something gone, — like a country 
graveyard. There is no other animal of equal 
size that can add so much of life and cheerful- 
ness to a hardwood forest or a meadow as a good 
healthy squirrel. Why is it that American men 
and boys kill them so eagerly? Surely the flesh 
of their little bodies is not needed as food. It 
has a taste so “gamey” and rank that to many 
persons it is decidedly unpalatable. Americans 
are the only white men on earth who eat squir- 
rels. An Englishman would as readily eat a 
rat! 
Possibly their flesh was necessary to the hardy 
but hungry pioneers of the early days; but to- 
day we have no excuse for shooting any squir- 
rels, save the quarrelsome red squirrel. Surely 
no true sportsman or right-minded boy can 
find any real “sport” in “potting” squirrels 
out of the tree-tops. 
Take the common gray squirrel, for example. 
It is one of the most beautiful and graceful of 
our native mammals. It is perfectly harmless 
and as soon as it learns that it is protected, it be- 
comes so tame as to be a delightful companion 
on the farm. Thousands of American farmers 
would fight, were it necessary, to save their 
squirrels from slaughter. Except the red squir- 
rel, all tree squirrels should be protected, both 
by public sentiment and by law. 
Excepting the chickarees, the squirrels which 
live in the tree-tops are considerably larger than 
those of other groups, and their tails are much 
longer. Their characteristic colors are gray, 
rusty-brown, yellow and black; and as a rule 
Photographed by E. R. Sanborn, N. Y. Zoological Park. 
GRAY SQUIRREL. 
