“Halloa! there he goes again,” said Frank, as he watched a nimble little
animal leaping from branch to branch, and from tree-top to tree-top. “He
will fall if he does not take care.”
“No fear of that,” said Uncle George. “His home is among the tree-tops.
He never falls. That is a squirrel, and I should not be surprised if his
nest is somewhere near. Let us sit down on this bank and watch.”
As he spoke, Uncle George took his pair of field-glasses out of the
leather case which he sometimes carried on a strap across his shoulder,
when he went out to watch the birds.
“Now, Mr Squirrel,” he said, “we can watch your antics from a distance.
You are a very cunning and clever little chap, no doubt.”
When Uncle George and Dolly and the two boys first saw the squirrel, the
little creature was on the ground, bobbing about among the ferns and the
grass. The moment it saw them, however, it bounded into a tree, going
swiftly up by jerk after jerk, and always keeping on the far side of the
trunk.
They could just see its bushy tail, first at one side of the trunk and
then, much higher up, at the other side. When it reached the top part of
the tree, it leapt from branch to branch in the most daring manner.
“We have alarmed the creature,” said Uncle George. “But if we sit here
quite still for a little while, Mr Squirrel will get over his fright.
Ah, there he is.”
Uncle George handed the glasses to Frank.
“Now, tell us what you see,” he said, “and then Tom and Dolly shall each
take a look.”
“He is sitting up on his hind legs,” said Frank. “His great, bushy tail
is bent right over his head. He is holding a little green thing in his
fore-paws. Ah, he is eating it. Look Dolly!” and Frank handed the
glasses to his little sister.
“Oh, what a lovely little animal,” said Dolly; “and what pretty eyes he
has. They are just like a pair of bright, black beads.”
“I think Tom ought to have the glasses now,” said Uncle George. “He has
been very patient indeed. Come Tom, tell us what the squirrel is like.”
Tom took the glasses and looked through them for a long time. Then he
said, “He is a very pretty creature, as Dolly has said. His colour is
rich brown all over, except the front part of his body, which is a very
light brown, changing almost to white. His tail is very large and bushy,
and his ears are upright and tufted with brown hair. His fore-paws are
just like little hands. He holds the nut in them and nibbles it just
like a little monkey. His head is not unlike the rabbit’s head. His
teeth are almost exactly like rabbit’s teeth. They are chisel-shaped,
and seem to be very sharp.”
“Splendid, Tom,” said his uncle, patting him on the back, “I don’t think
you have left anything out. Now, let me look.”
“Oh, there is another one. There are now two of them,” said Frank.
“Where did that one come from?” asked his uncle, looking through the
glasses. “It seemed to come out of the tree, did it not?”
“I thought you children would leave me nothing to find out; but I see
something which you have missed. Here, Frank, take the glasses and see
if you can find it. Look at the fork of the tree just below where the
squirrels are.”
“I see something like a nest,” said Frank. “I noticed that before, but I
thought it was a rook’s nest.”
“Nay,” said his uncle, “it is a squirrel’s nest. Rooks build on the very
top branches of trees, and you never see one rook’s nest without a lot
of others near it. Besides, the rook’s nest is a rough flat nest, while
this is a round one with a roof on it, and a hole in the side to let the
squirrels out and in.”
“Then that other squirrel must have come out of the nest,” said Frank.
“Just so,” said Uncle George. “That is Mrs Squirrel. She has come out to
get some food, and her little husband will look after the family while
she is away hunting for nuts and buds and soft green bark.
“If we could get up to that nest, we should find it to be built of twigs
and moss cleverly woven together.
“The inside is lined with soft warm moss and dry leaves. We should, most
likely, find four or more tiny squirrels cuddled up together inside.
Blind, naked, helpless things they are at first. But they soon grow up,
and their long bare tails become bushy. Then the little mother teaches
them to climb and find food for themselves. Should one of them fall, she
springs down and carries it up to the nest in her mouth, just as a cat
carries her kittens.
“By autumn these young squirrels will be quite as clever as their
parents. Autumn is the squirrel’s busy time. He has to prepare for the
long winter, for no nuts are to be found then. So the squirrel gathers
in his harvest of nuts. These he hides in secret places buried in the
ground. He usually has more than one storing-place. In fact, he
sometimes has so many that he forgets about some of them.”
“We never see squirrels in winter,” said Tom.
“No, because the squirrel sleeps the whole winter through. After he has
gathered his harvest, he looks for a snug hole deep under an old
tree-stump. This he lines with dry leaves and pieces of bark. When the
weather becomes very cold he seeks his winter nest, coils his body up so
that his great tail is folded almost right round him, and falls fast
asleep. Cold makes him drowsy, but warmth wakes him up. On a mild
winter’s day he wakes up, crawls out of his hole, and visits his store
of nuts. After he has made a good meal of them, he goes back to his bed
again, and sleeps on until hunger and mild weather wake him up.
“During autumn the squirrel’s coat is very pretty. It is of a deep, rich
brown colour, and very thick. His tail is then very large and bushy, and
he is quite fat and sleek.
“When he comes out of his sleeping quarters in spring he is thin and
hungry. His coat is then a very pale brown.”
“What does he do for food in spring?” asked Tom. “There are no nuts to
be found then.”
“Alas, no, Tom. In spring he robs birds’ nests of their eggs, and that
is why the pretty little squirrel is hunted and shot by the game-keeper.
In spring, too, he feeds on the tender buds, and so does much damage to
trees and shrubs; that is, if his winter stores are used up.”
“I should think,” said Frank, “that such a large tail would be very much
in the squirrel’s way when climbing and leaping from branch to branch.”
“Not at all,” said his uncle, “his huge tail is of the greatest use to
him in guiding his body. Without it he could not take such flying leaps
among the tree-tops.
“Besides this, it often enables him to escape from his enemies. Many a
time the game-keeper’s bullets pass harmlessly through his fluffy tail,
while Mr Squirrel scampers safely up the tree; and many a time he
escapes from the cat by leaving the tip of his brush in pussy’s claws.
“A great many of our trees have been planted by squirrels. Many a
stately oak and beech tree has sprung from the squirrel’s buried store
of acorns and beech nuts. For, as I have already told you, sometimes he
forgets where he has buried them, or perhaps fails to find them when the
forest is white with snow. So, you see, the little animal is of some use
after all.”
Questions and Exercises.
1. The squirrel has chisel-shaped teeth suited for gnawing. Name other
animals of the same kind.
2. The squirrel’s bushy tail is of great use to him. Why?
3. Make a list of our wild animals (1) which sleep through the winter,
and (2) which store up food for winter.