54 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
ASKED AND ANSWERED 
An exchange of experience on practical matters by our readers. You 
are invited to contribute questions and answers to this department 
Squirrels in the Parks. 
"I should like to get the opinions of 
park men on the desirability of, and pro- 
visions for, squirrels in parks. Personally 
it is a question with me; I know they rob 
birds’ nests of eggs and drive away many 
of our desirable song birds ; the robins 
and blue-jays seemingly being the only 
ones able to defend against their depreda- 
tions. This alone seems sufficient to con- 
demn them by depriving us, not only of the 
companionship, but the practical benefits 
of the birds. They are predatory and 
easily become a nuisance about the resi- 
dences adjacent to parks. On the other 
hand they are interesting, become very 
tame and are a source of amusement to 
children and of little expense. I appre- 
ciate that if they are with us they should 
be cared for. I will be glad to have the 
expressions from any who have had occa- 
sion to consider it.”— -A. L. R„ O. 
While the little rodents are delightfully 
interesting in our public parks to children, 
there is no doubt whatever of their preda- 
tory habits as regards birds’ nests. In the 
well timbered small parks inside our cities, 
where only a few birds breed, squirrels 
may find a happy and appropriate home, 
and their tameness and friendliness of 
themselves, and the pleasure they give to 
our children, and the kindly spirit the 
little rascals promote in our wee folks 
surely compensate for their rapacious 
nature. House them well and feed them 
well ; it will greatly lessen their plunder- 
ing propensity. Birds prefer the less fre- 
quented parts of our parks. On the con- 
trary the squirrels love the most traveled 
roads and paths — they are the best feeding 
grounds. 
The little chipmunk or ground squirrel, 
so nimble, so pretty and so cute, also is 
far from blameless. In my case his great- 
est sin is in stealing our crocus corms, 
not in winter, but in summer. It can smell 
them in the sod, then dig them up and 
devour them, and the brazen little imp, 
when it sees me coming, scurries along 
the pathway, bulb in mouth, and impu- 
dently peers at me from a crack behind 
a stone step or other shelter. 
As regards a destroyer of birds’ nests, 
however, the biggest thief of all of our 
wild animals is the opossum. It works 
both by day and night, mostly at night 
It climbs up into the bushes and the trees, 
and robs every bird’s nest it can discover. 
Don’t mistake his slow movements for in- 
nocence, so far as our birds are concerned 
he is a murderous pirate. 
In the little timbered park surrounding 
our state capitol at Harrisburg is a multi- 
tude of gray squirrels. Mr. Samuel B. 
Rambo, the superintendent of public 
grounds and buildings w'rites me: “Rela- 
tive to the habits of the squirrels in the 
capitol park, would say, the squirrels are 
in the habit of robbing birds’ nests of eggs, 
eating the young birds when they can get 
to them, eating the new buds in the early 
spring from the bulbs that are planted in 
the fall, and do considerable damage. They 
are, as you know, protected by law in the 
state capitol grounds.” 
Central Park, New York City, seems to 
be a paradise for squirrels, there are so 
many of them there. Mr. J. H. Beatty, 
superintendent of the New York parks, 
writes me : “In regard to the squirrels 
and wild birds in the parks : There are 
a great number of squirrels in Central 
Park, and so far as I can see, they have 
not had any appreciable effect upon the 
number of wild birds in the park. There 
seems to be as many wild birds now as 
ever. They (the birds) seem to be con- 
fined, however, to the more thickly wooded 
sections, but that is not the result of any 
interference on the part of the squirrels 
as far as I can see.” 
Mr. Frederic S. Webster, an eminent 
naturalist and the City Ornithologist of 
Pittsburgh, has this to say on the subject: 
Regarding the character and behavior of the vari- 
ous species of squirrels, I am only too glad to give 
any information in my power. 
The general impression as to the robbing tendency 
of these rodents is well founded. 
My experience, covering many years, justifies 
me in declaring that they are all predatory in 
habits. The “chipmunk” is no better than the 
others. They all rob the birds’ nests — eat the eggs 
and even the young at times. Yon can never have 
many birds and have them breed where the 
squirrels abound. 
You will appreciate that the squirrels in our 
parks have no natural food supply of any extent — 
in some, not any. With irregular amounts sup- 
plied, their appetites are sharp, and they are in 
consequence very much more murderous than if 
natural supply of food was at hand. I consider 
them a pest in our parks, and they ought to be 
gotten rid of if we want birds in variety and 
numbers sufficient to protect and care for the trees 
and shrubs and prevent the ravages of insects, 
which do such damage to all vegetation. 
I admire the wildness the squirrels lend to the 
parks and their attractive and sprightly ways. 
Pittsburgh, Pa. William Falconer. 
Regarding the desirability of maintain- 
ing squirrels in parks, about four years 
years ago we introduced one dozen pairs 
of gray squirrels in Coring Park, which 
is centrally located in the city and about 
36 acres in extent. We have over 100 
squirrels there at the present time and 
they are the favorites of the visitors to 
the park. Before introducing those gray 
squirels I had all the red squirrels de- 
stroyed, and I find that since then the birds 
have greatly increased in that park. We 
all know that the red squirrel is a vandal 
and destructive to bird life. The gray 
squirrel is certainly very much less so. I 
do not find that the squirrels, in the least, 
prove a nuisance to the people of the 
neighborhood ; in fact, they are the favor- 
ite pets of everybody, and with their grace- 
ful and tame manners, make friends every- 
where. It is my intention to kill off the 
red squirels in other parks and substitute 
the gray ones as fast as we can. 
Minneapolis. Theodore Wirth, 
Supt. of Parks. 
Here at Graceland we find that the 
beauty and gracefulness of the squirrels 
does not begin to compensate for their 
destructiveness to birds’ eggs, bulbs, etc., 
so about two years ago an order was given 
by the managers for their destruction. A 
rifle in the hands of the watchman in 
the early morning accomplishes that pur- 
pose. Geo. L. Tilton, 
Chicago. Supt. Graceland Cemetery. 
In reply to the inquiry by the park 
superintendent regarding squirrels in parks, 
I am of the same opinion as he, that 
squirrels may easily become a nuisance. 
It is not alone that they become a menace 
to our song birds, but I have seen them 
eat off the terminal buds of the oak and 
maples on the north shore to such an ex- 
tent that they really injure the trees. Per- 
sonally I like squirrels very much and 
would not like to see them destroyed alto- 
gether, but I think if they were to be in- 
troduced into our parks they should be 
held in check. 
Chicago. Jens Jensen. 
The red squirrel and chipmunk I con- 
sider “undesirable citizens” of our parks, if 
they are at all numerous. The gray squirrel 
is a decided acquisition, and we encourage 
them to make their home with us. The 
squirrels are fed during the entire year, 
become quite tame, add much to the pleas- 
ure of many park visitors, and do little 
damage if fed. There are many gray 
squirrels here, especially in Kenev Park, 
yet we also have there many birds of dif- 
ferent species. I have not known of their 
injuring birds or birds’ nests, but they may 
do so nevertheless. They do visit neigh- 
boring places, but so far seem to have been 
welcome. At least no one has complained 
of them to me. I most decidedly favor the 
grayr squirrels in our parks. 
Geo. A. Parker, 
Hartford, Conn. Supt. of Parks. 
SAN FRANCISCO CEMETERIES. 
There is continued agitation in San 
Francisco over the removal of the con- 
demned cemeteries. Large meetings are 
being held to favor the removal bills 
which are before the legislature. How- 
ever, there is also plenty of opposition, 
and the San Francisco Labor Council op- 
poses all pending legislation relating to 
cemeteries and removal of bodies there- 
from. Both the Cassidy and Boynton cem- 
etery removal bills are denounced as un- 
just to the people owning plots in the 
cemeteries. 
