the Western States we
find the large red-tailed squirrels, which are about the size of
the large grey variety of the Eastern and Middle States.

Squirrels, as a tribe, are much sought for as pets, and most of
the species are easily tamed.

Box traps of various kinds are used in taking them alive. The varieties
on pages 103, 106 and 110 are especially adapted for this purpose,
and should be set either in the trees or on the ground, and baited
with an apple, a portion of an ear of corn, or of whatever the
animal is particularly fond.

When the animals exist in such numbers as to become a destructive
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nuisance to the farm, the small-sized steel trap, No. 0, arranged
with bait hung above it, will work to good advantage. Twitch-ups
are also successful, and we might also recommend the traps on pages
107, 116 and 128 as worthy of trial when the animal is not desired
to be captured alive.

Squirrels may be skinned either by ripping up the belly, or in a
whole piece, as described in regard to the fox.

We pause before going further into the mysteries of trapping in
connection with the animals which we are about to consider, as
they are generally exempt from the wiles of the trapper's art,
coming more properly in the field of the hunter or sportsman. The
idea of trapping a deer, for instance, seems barbarous indeed;
but are not all the ways of deceiving and killing these splendid
animals equally so? Are not the various strategies and cunning
devices of the sportsman, by which these noble creatures are decoyed
and murdered, equally open to the same objection? As far as barbarity
goes, there is to us but little choice between the two methods;
and, generally speaking, we decry them both, and most especially
do not wish to be understood as encouraging the trapping of these
animals, except where all other means have failed, and in cases
where their capture becomes in a measure a matter of necessity.
This is often the case in the experience of professional trappers.
The life of the trapper during the trapping season is spent almost
entirely in the wilderness, often many miles from any human habitation;
and at times he is solely dependent upon his gun or trap for his
necessary food.

Sometimes in a dry season, when the leaves and twigs crackle under
foot, the rifle is as good as useless, for it becomes impossible to
approach a deer within shooting range. And there are other times
when ammunition is exhausted, and the