Nov. 9, 1912 
FOREST AND STREAM 
607 
comfortably lined with selected grasses and fine 
leaves, making it warm and cozy. Generally there 
are some exits, but in most cases there is just 
one entrance which is the main one. It seems 
rather funny that the animal can dig down so 
far and push the dirt out, and yet they do it 
with apparent easiness. They work for some 
time, throwing out dirt with their fore feet and 
then when they have accumulated a pile, they 
work with their hind feet, throwing it out with 
great energy. Thus they keep on till they come 
below the surface, and then they turn around 
and push it out with their nose, clearing away 
as fast as they go. One only has to watch them 
to know that they are rapid workers. Armed as 
they are with sharp claws, they make the earth 
fly until they have finished their abode, and then 
of course they rest from their labors in a long 
nap that lasts all through the winter months. 
Early in the month of May they bring forth 
their young which usually number as high as 
four and five—cute little things that are inno¬ 
cence personified. During the weeks that follow 
they grow and bask like their mother in the 
warmth of the awakening world. Many a day 
I hied me away to the den on the hillside, for I 
knew that new arrivals in the woodchuck circle 
were to be expected. The mother appeared to 
be strangely uneasy and would regard me with 
suspicion as I lay motionless under the shade of 
the wide spreading oak. I was a familiar figure 
in that neighborhood, and I was pained to think 
that she would not trust me. However, it was 
many days before she brought out her little 
brood, and when she did she kept all her facul¬ 
ties on the alert for any suspicious movements 
from under the tree. You may well suppose that 
I was highly engrossed in my observations and 
stirred not the least. So she ambled forth at the 
head of the youngsters and gave them their first 
lessons in the school of nature. When the 
mother stopped and listened, the cubs did like¬ 
wise, holding their heads on a slant and peering 
forth with their little eyes in wonder. They 
imitated her in everything and she looked on in 
what I took to be a pleased manner. Not far 
from the den were some tender shoots of bushes, 
and here she led the band that tumbled over each 
other trying to be the first to taste the new¬ 
found delicacy, for it was their initial trial at 
selecting their own food. Carefully the mother 
sought out a twig and nipped the tender bark. 
In a moment and a moment only the youngsters 
set to work with great energy to appease their 
hunger, and soon they were very busy. Now the 
mother would sit up and glance about her with 
keen eyes, immovable as a statue. Knowing that 
something was on, the cubs stopped eating and 
sat perfectly silent, waiting for their mother’s 
warning ere they scooted for shelter. Thus the 
old one sat for some time, and finally she had 
some premonition that there was danger in the 
air, and dropping lightly to her feet she ambled 
off with the young ones at her heels, no doubt 
with quaking hearts. The little ones tumbled 
into their home and the mother turned her eyes 
toward the oak where I lay and watched the 
shadows intently. Then she softly followed her 
offspring. 
Thus, day after day I watched them and was 
repaid many times over for my observations. 
Gradually the cubs grew and soon they were most 
as large as their mother. Their fur was a light 
gray which changed as the weeks went by until 
it was a dainty brown that glittered in the rays 
of the summer sun. They learned to sit sentinel 
and often the whole band would be on. their 
haunches, alert to the dangers that beset them 
Boys often strayed that way, and once a dog oot 
the notion to come there, but I saw to it that 
he did not stop and do any damage to the fanii 1 '- 
and their home. So the summer went by and 
autumn, crisp and golden, was heralded and a 
new leaf was turned. The mother woodchuck 
was plump and inclined to grow fatter every day. 
Great pouches gathered at her cheeks and almost 
hid her eyes. The young ones left the home of 
their parent and strayed for themselves, each to 
make his home and go to sleep for the winter. 
The old mother stayed at her den and I saw her 
quite often sitting solitary and watchful. Where 
her young ones were I cannot say, but the vicinity 
/?= 
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