THE FOX-SQUIRREL. 
Squirrels vary in size and 
color according to the country 
in which they live. In Asia 
there is a Squirrel no larger 
than a Mouse, and in Africa 
there is one larger than a Cat. 
I am a North American Squir- 
rel, one of the " common" family, 
as they say. I eat all sorts of 
vegetables and fruits, as well as 
Mice, small Birds and eggs. I 
choose my mate in February or 
April, go to housekeeping like 
the birds, and raise a family 
of from three to nine little baby 
Squirrels. 
Some of my little readers have 
seen me, perhaps, or one of my 
family, frisking among the 
branches, or running up and 
down the trunks of trees. My 
enemy the Hawk gets after me 
sometimes, and then I run up 
the tree u like a Squirrel," and 
hide behind one of the large 
branches, going from one to 
another till I tire him out. 
Squirrels have to be "cunning 
as a Fox," as they say. When 
pursued — and oh, how often we 
are, by men and boys, as well as 
Hawks — we leap from branch 
to branch, Or from tree to tree, 
altering our direction while in 
the air, our tails acting as 
rudders. At last we are driven 
into a solitary tree, so that we 
cannot leap into the branches of 
another. Then a boy or man 
climbs up, tries to shake us 
from the limb, and at length 
succeeds in knocking us to the 
ground. Off we run again, give 
them a ]ong chase, perhaps, 
but at last are caught, and 
probably carried home to be 
kept in a cage like a little 
prisoner, or maybe in a stuffy 
wooden box. How can we be 
happy or playful under such 
circumstances? I think it is a 
great shame to put any animal, 
bird or otherwise, in a little cage; 
don't you? 
There are men who make a 
business of selling Squirrels for 
household pets. If you want a 
young Squirrel — and nobody 
wants to buy an old one — look 
at its teeth; if young, they will 
be almost white; if old, a light 
yellow. 
u Oh, mama," cried Dorothy 
one day, u do look at this dear 
little tame Squirrel the good 
man wants to sell. See how 
tame it is. It will let me stroke 
it, and never tries to bite." 
Mama, who desired her 
children to have four-footed, as 
well as two-footed friends, 
bought the tame squirrel for 
her little girl. Alas! the good 
man had dosed the poor little 
animal with laudunum to keep 
it quiet. It died the next day. 
