Page:Hunting and trapping stories; a book for boys (IA huntingtrappings00pric).pdf/188

 The is a splendid little creature, typifying wild, careless gayety and absurd shrewdness and gravity. It is common all over Southern Europe and especially so in England. It lives in small numbers in the beech and fir woods, or near the great oaks. Its size is about that of an overgrown kitten. Its eyes are bright and black, while its ears, which are large and upright, have a tuft of hair on the ends. Its tail is large and bushy and is usually carried curled over its back. Like the dormouse, it sits upright when eating or playing sentinel.

The squirrel builds a nest which at a distance looks like a crow's. In fact, it sometimes uses an old crow's nest instead of building one of its own. The nest is carefully lined with moss and leaves, and here the young squirrels are born and brought up. They are the prettiest little creatures, very gentle, and make excellent pets, but are hard to raise in cages. In the early morning, the squirrel comes down from the trees to feed on the wind-blown chestnuts and acorns. Then, as the sun gets higher, it goes back to the trees. The squirrel rarely comes to the ground except to feed. If alarmed, it races along the ground with a jumping gallop, but when it reaches the trees nothing can follow it. It springs from branch to branch with astounding leaps. If, by any chance, it misses its footing, it spreads out its bushy tail and comes sailing down as light as a feather.

The squirrel has many enemies. The game-keeper shoots it for gnawing the bark from the young trees. Then the weasel and stoat are ever on the watch to pounce upon it while feeding, and up in the branches there is always a danger of being swooped down upon by the sparrow-hawk. Last of all is the persistent small boy. Throughout all parts of rural England it is considered great sport to hunt the squirrel. The usual method is to wait