768 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Another case of feeding was that of male 9, given food on Decem¬ 
ber 31, 1911. He was awake and ate on January 11 and 14, after 
which he remained awake. Citellus townsendi male 5 ate sparingly 
the first day out of hibernation. 
For squirrels to consume food at all in the winter is not normal. 
Occasionally in the yards a squirrel would not go into hibernation, 
but remained warm and active, consuming very little food. On 
December 11, 1913, a squirrel was tested for the amount of food con¬ 
sumed in a day and it was found that it ate only 8 grams of carrot 
and sunflower seed. It showed a preference for the seeds. On 
December 21 it ate 4 grams of carrot and 1 gram of sunflower seed, 
making 5 grams in all. 
Fig. 4.—In the yards, some of the squirrels, captured late in the season and being very wild, would 
not enter into hibernation, and seemed to take very little food during the entire winter. In order 
to make observations regarding the necessity of food in winter, though awake, this squirrel was 
placed in hibernarium box which had been completely cleaned so that no food should remain. A 
warm nest of excelsior and cotton batting was provided. The squirrel was observed from day to 
day. During all the time of his fasting he seemed to be in good condition and wide awake. At 
the end of the sixteenth day without food he went into hibernation, as shown in the figure 
That they can get along without food at this period is shown by the 
following observation: One of these squirrels, refusing to go into 
hibernation, was deprived of food for 16 days, during which time it 
remained awake, warm and lively. On the seventeenth day it went 
into hibernation, remaining in this condition for six days (fig. 4). 
At the beginning of the test it weighed 495 grams. At the end of 
the test it weighed only 358 grams. On awakening, it ate and con¬ 
tinued its existence as if nothing had happened (fig. 5). That 
aestivation and hibernation are offsets to starvation is evident. 
APPEARANCE OF A HIBERNATING SQUIRREL 
Throughout all the work of hibernation it was observed that the 
squirrels, especially during the last of the season, became very lifeless. 
They took the vertical position of the squirrels shown in Figure 4, a 
position maintained only in a well-packed nest, and dropped to the 
temperature already described. They appeared less rigid during 
