March 25, 1911.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
453 
Flying Squirrels and Muskrats. 
In the Proceedings of the Washington 
Academy of Sciences, issued Feb. 15, last, Dr. 
Barton Warren Evermann and Howard Walton 
Clark published an interesting paper on the 
mammals of the Lake Maxinkuckee Region. A 
short time ago we printed Dr. Evermann's 
• paper on the feeding habits of ducks and c<?ots, 
as observed at this lake. There are included in 
the mammals paper notes on thirty-one species 
of mammals, of which several are now regarded 
as extinct for the region. 
The lake, which is about 2jkt miles long and 
V/2 wide, lies in the glacier region of Indiana 
among low hills, and the lowland of the region 
is more or less swampy. Remains of elk, es¬ 
pecially the horns, are still occasionally found 
in the peat bogs of Marshall county, but have 
no doubt been extinct for a long time. Deer 
were formerly common but have not been seen 
for some years. Squirrels and ground-inhabit¬ 
ing rodents are abundant, and the flying squirrel 
is especially so. So little is known about this 
species that we quote what the authors have 
to say: 
“Wherever there are, about the lake, large 
old trees with hollow trunks or limbs, one or 
more pairs of flying squirrels are likely to be 
found. Striking such trees with an ax or maul 
will often induce the squirrels to come out, es¬ 
pecially if the tree is of proper size and springy 
enough to vibrate well in response to blows. 
When striking the tree is stopped, the squirrels 
usually return quickly to their nest. By such 
devices as this, one is apt to discover that the 
flying squirrel is a much more common animal 
in the neighborhood than the number seen 
otherwise would indicate. On account of its 
quiet unobtrusive ways and its nocturnal habits 
it is not often seen except by those who know 
its ways. 
“These squirrels usually make their nests in 
holes in old dead or decaying trees; they may 
utilize a hollow limb, a decayed and hollowed- 
out portion of the trunk or a deserted wood- 
BEFORE THEIR EYES WERE OPEN. 
pecker hole. Late in the fall, after the cottagers 
have left the lake and the cottages have been 
closed for the winter, these resourceful little 
animals sometimes take up their residence in 
the loft, cupboard or some suitable box in the 
cottages. There they build their nests and dwell 
cosily until the warm days of returning spring 
tempt them to return to a hole in some scraggy 
old oak nearby, whe:e they will spend the 
summer. 
“Occasionally, in the evening twilight or on 
moonlight nights, a flying squirrel may be seen 
sailing in a gentle downward curve from one 
tree to another, the start being made from well 
COYOTES JUST AFTER BIRTH. 
toward the top of one tree and the place of 
alighting at a much lower point on the other. 
There is something ghost-like in this gliding 
flight; it is so unlike that of any other of our 
native creatures. There is not only an entire 
absence of fluttering wings, but perfect silence. 
“While in their nests these squirrels do more 
or less squeaking. On the night of Sept. 21, 
1903, one or more were heard in trees in the 
Arlington Hotel grounds. On Nov. 27, 1904, 
the accidental burning of two cottages on Long 
Point ignited some of the surrounding trees, 
one of which contained a family of flying 
squirrels. They did not leave their nest until 
fatally burned, when they leaped to the ground. 
On Aug. 19, 1906, while riding along a road 
west of the lake a squeaking sound attracted at¬ 
tention to the base of a small scrub oak at the 
roadside. On examining the place four young 
flying squirrels were discovered. They were 
quite small and wholly naked. A storm had 
probably blown them from their nest which was 
a large, globular affair, made of fibrous material, 
situated in a crotch of a tree. While we were 
only a few feet away, one of the parent squirrels, 
presumably the mother, came down the tree, and, 
taking the young in her mouth, carried them, 
one at a time, back to the nest. 
On April 16, 1890, one of us found a nest con¬ 
taining two young flying squirrels, south of 
Terre Haute. The nest was in a woodpecker’s 
hole about twenty feet from the ground in a 
maple. Upon striking the tree the mother 
squirrel came out of the hole and flew to an¬ 
other tree nearby, where she remained watch¬ 
ing. Breaking the snag at the hole, the two 
young were removed and placed on the ground. 
After a litt'e time the old squirrel flew back to 
the snag and seemed much disturbed by the 
changed appearance of things. She looked all 
about, and, finally discovering the young on the 
ground, she came down, and taking one in her 
mouth, carried it to the top of the snag from 
which she then flew with the young in her 
mouth to another tree about thirty feet away. 
She ran up that tree to a height of about fifty 
feet, where she found a knot-hole in which she 
placed the little one. In a moment she reap¬ 
peared and flew back to the snag for the other. 
In the meantime I had stationed myself near 
the young. After several advances and retreats 
she finally came and seized the young in her 
mouth when I caught her in my hand. When 
released she returned to the knot-hole with the 
young squirrel. These dates (April 16 and Aug. 
19) are of interest in showing so wide a range 
in the breeding season of the flying squirrel. 
“On Dec. 16, 1890, a family of six flying 
squirrels was found by J. M. Beck near Burling¬ 
ton. They were all full-grown. On Thanks¬ 
giving Day, several years ago, Prof. U. O. 
Cox, then of Farmland, Ind., found fifteen fly¬ 
ing squirrels in a small rotten stump a little 
higher than a man's head. 
“It is remarkable the number of flying 
squirrels that can be discovered in any wood 
by knocking on the old dead snags or trees, 
particularly in the spring. We had found them 
in old oaks, beeches, maples, ash, willows, 
sycamores, and hickories, as well as in various 
old buildings. They seem to breed chiefly early 
in the spring, about sugar-making time. A sec¬ 
ond or third litter may be produced later in the 
season. 
“Flying squirrels make interesting pets. Sev¬ 
eral years ago one of us had two which were 
kept as pets for several weeks. They had the 
freedom of one room in the house. During the 
day they lay curled up in a box provided and 
made comfortable for that purpose. At night, 
particularly before midnight, they would come 
out to play about the room and to accept the 
nuts and other food offered them. One night 
a drawer containing a number of bird skins was 
inadvertently left open. One of the squirrels 
got into it, ate one of the skins, and as a re¬ 
sult, died of arsenic poisoning.’’ 
[to be concluded.] 
A LITTER of ten half-grown coyotes. 
Mr. Pellett’s Coyotes. 
In the third one of the series of pictures of 
coyotes made by Frank C. Pellett, ten of these 
interesting beasts are shown together. It is, as 
Mr. Pellett says, unusual to capture an entire 
litter of half-grown coyotes. These specimens 
appear to be in good condition. 
