Wm. Lyman Underwood, Belmont, Mass.)
_Frontispiece_
Flying Squirrel 4
Gray Squirrel 8
Chipmunk 18
Woodchuck 34
Gray Rabbit 40
Muskrat 46
Skunk 50
Weasel 74
Mink 90
Raccoon 96
Porcupine 102
Opossum 108
White-footed Mouse 112
Jumping Mouse 120
Red Squirrel 136

SQUIRRELS AND OTHER
FUR-BEARERS

I

SQUIRRELS

Walking through the early October woods one day, I came upon a place
where the ground was thickly strewn with very large unopened chestnut
burrs. On examination I found that every burr had been cut square off
with about an inch of the stem adhering, and not one had been left on
the tree. It was not accident, then, but design. Whose design? A
squirrel's. The fruit was the finest I had ever seen in the woods, and
some wise squirrel had marked it for his own. The burrs were ripe, and
had just begun to divide. The squirrel that had taken all this pains had
evidently reasoned with himself thus: "Now, these are extremely fine
chestnuts, and I want them; if I wait till the burrs open on the tree,
the crows and jays will be sure to carry off a great many of the nuts
before they fall; then, after the wind has rattled out what remain,
there are the mice, the chipmunks, the red squirrels, the raccoons, the
grouse, to say nothing of the boys and the pigs, to come in for their
share; so I will forestall events a little: I will cut off the burrs
when they have matured, and a few days of this dry October weather will
cause every one of them to open on the ground; I shall be on hand in the
nick of time to gather up my nuts." The squirrel, of course, had to take
the chances of a prowler like myself coming along, but he had fairly
stolen a march on his neighbors. As I proceeded to collect and open the
burrs, I was half prepared to hear an audible protest from the trees
about, for I constantly fancied myself watched by shy but jealous eyes.
It is an interesti