THE RED SQUIRREL. 
T^iHICKAREE is the common 
/ ^) name of the Red Squirrel, 
I J| so called from the cry which 
utters. It is one of the 
most interesting of the 
family, and a pleasing feature of rural 
life. During the last weeks of 
autumn the Squirrel seems to be quite 
in its element, paying frequent visits 
to the nut trees and examining their 
fruit with a critical eye, in anticipation 
of laying up a goodly store of food for 
the long and dreary months of winter; 
as they do not, as was formerly 
asserted, hibernate, but live upon the 
stores they secure. A scarcity may 
mean much suffering to them, while 
an abundance will mean plenty 
and comfort. In filling their little 
granaries, they detect every worm- 
eaten or defective nut, and Iselect only 
the soundest fruit, conveying it, one 
by one, to its secret home. Feeding 
abundantly on the rich products of a 
fruitful season, the Squirrel becomes 
very fat before the commencement of 
winter, and is then in its greatest 
beauty, the new fur having settled upon 
the body, and the new hair having 
covered the tail with its plumy fringe. 
Did you ever watch a squirrel open 
and eat the contents of a nut? It is 
very curious and interesting. The 
little fellow takes it daintily in his 
fore-paws, seats himself deliberately, 
and then carrying the nut to his 
mouth, clips off the tips with his 
sharp chisel-edged incisor teeth. He 
then rapidly breaks away the shell, 
and after peeling the husk from the 
kernel, eats it complacently, all the 
while furtively glancing about him, ever 
in readiness to vanish from his post at 
any suspicious disturbance. The food 
of the Squirrel is not vegetable 
substances. Young birds, eggs, and 
various insects constitute a part of his 
food. He has the destructive habit of 
nibbling green and tender shoots that 
sprout upon the topmost boughs, thus 
stunting the growth of many a 
promising tree. He visits the farmers' 
corn-cribs, too, and thus renders 
himself somewhat obnoxious. All in 
all, however, he has his uses, and 
should not be wholly exterminated. 
Tender and juicy, he has always paid 
for his apparent despoliation, and his 
destruction of much injurious insect 
life rather favors his protection. 
The Squirrel is a variable animal in 
point of color, the tint of its fur 
changing with the country it inhabits. 
It is easily tamed, and is a favorite 
domestic pet. It is said, however, that 
one should beware of purchasing so- 
called tame Squirrels, as they are often 
drugged with strychnine, under whose 
influence they will permit themselves 
to be handled. In some cases the 
incisor teeth are drawn, to prevent 
them from biting. It is sad that such 
cruel tricks of the vendors exist and 
cannot be prevented. 
It is related that about 1840, during 
a season of great scarcity of mast, vast 
multitudes of Squirrels migrated from 
the eastern states to Canada, where 
food conditions were more favorable. 
They crossed the country in armies, 
swam rivers with their tails curled 
over their backs, sailing before the 
wind. It was a curious instance of rare 
instinct and self-preservation. 
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