The Living Animals of the World, Volume I: Mammals

The Rodents, or Gnawing Animals 149

is usually engaged for several days, spending an hour in the morning hard at work. The noise they make in cutting the sticks and carrying material is heard at some distance." In winter they reside entirely in the holes of trees, where their young are in most cases born. Green corn and young wheat suffered greatly from their depredations, and a wholesale war of destruction used to be waged against them everywhere. In Pennsylvania an old law offered threepence a bead from the public treasury for every squirrel destroyed, and in 1749 the enormous sum of 8,000 was paid out of the public funds for this purpose. In those days vast migrations of these squirrels used to take place, exciting not only the wonder but the fear of the old settlers. In the Far Northwest multitudes of squirrels used to congre- Photo l,it If. P. Dando] [Regent's Park. gate in different districts, forming scattered KED-FOOTED GROUND-SQTJIBREL. bands, which all moved in an easterly direc- This species has some of the characteristics of the tree-squirrels, among them the bushy tail. tion, gathering into larger bodies as they went. Neither mountains nor rivers stopped them. On they came, a devouring army, laying waste the corn- and wheat-fields, until guns. cats, hawks, foxes, and owls destroyed them.

THE FLYING-SQUIRRELS.

One of the finest squirrels is the TAGUAN, a large squirrel of India, Ceylon, and the Malacca forests. It is a "flying-squirrel," with a body 2 feet long, and a. bushy tail it leaps it unfoldsof the same length. Being nocturnal, it is not often seen; but when a flap of skin on either side, which is stretched (like a sail) when the fore and hind limbs are extended in the act of leaping; it then forms a parachute. The colour of this squirrel is grey, brown, and pale chestnut. There are a number of different flying-squirrels in China, Formosa, and Japan, and on the forests of Central America. One small flying-squirrel, the POLATOUCHE, is found in North-east Russia and Siberia. It flies from tree to tree with immense bounds, floats " on its sides.assisted by the " Though only 6 inches long, it can cover distances of 30 feet and more without difficulty. Wherever there are birch forests this little squirrel is found. One nearly as small is a native of the Southern States of America, ranging as far south as Guatemala.

In Africa, south of the Sahara, the place of the Oriental flying-squirrel is taken by a separate family. They have a different arrangement of - R - w- Shufeldt] [ Washington. ^ Drthe parachute from that of the flying- Photo squirrels of India. This wide fold of BLACK FOX-SQUIRREL, species is as valuable as that of the grey squirrel. skin is Supported in the Asiatic The fur of this

squirrels by a cartilage extending from the wrist. In the South African flying-squirrels this support springs from the elbow, not from the wrist; they have also horny plates on the under-surface of the tail. Many of the tropical flying-squirrels are quite large animals, some being as large as a small cat.

Mr. W. H. Adams says of PEL’s FLYING-SQUIRREL, a West African species: “These squirrels come out of their holes in the trees some hours

after sunset, and return long before daybreak. They are only visible on bright moonlight nights. The natives say that they do not come out of their holes at all in stormy weather, or on very dark nights; they live on berries and fruits, being especially fond of the palm-oil nut, which they take to their nests to peel and eat. They pass from tree to tree with great rapidity, usually choosing to jump from a higher branch to a lower one, and then climbing up again to make a fresh start.... They litter about twice in a year, once in September. The young remain in the nest for about nine weeks, during which they are fed by the old ones on such food as shoots and kernels. They do not attempt to jump or ‘fly’ till the end of that period, extending the length of their jumps with their growth.”

The ETHIOPIAN SPINY SQUIRRELS have coarse spiny fur; the little INDIAN PALM-SQUIRREL is marked with longitudinal dark and light stripes on the back; others have light bands on their flanks.

THE GROUND-SQUIRRELS.

Many tree-living squirrels pass a good deal of their time on the ground; but there are others which burrow like mice, and, though they climb admirably, prefer to make their nest, and the regular squirrel’s store of nuts, in the earth, and not in the branches. The best known is the little CHIPMUNK of the United States, the favourite pet of all American children. There are many kinds of chipmunks, all of which have pouches in their cheeks for carrying food. The commonest is the STRIPED CHIPMUNK. It is from 8 to 10 inches long, with white stripes, bordered with dark brown on each side. The chipmunks’ hoards of grain and nuts are so large that the Indians used to rob them in times of scarcity. There is also a ground-squirrel in Northern Europe and Northern Asia with much the same habits as the chipmunk.

The burrows of the chipmunks are deep and extensive, and into them these rodents convey such quantities of grain and maize as to inflict considerable loss on the farmer. The SIBERIAN GROUND-SQUIRREL has been known to conceal over 8 lbs. weight of corn in its hole. This has a sleeping-chamber at the end, filled with moss and leaves, on which the family sleep. From this side passages are dug, all leading to chambers stocked with food, often far in excess of the wants of these provident little creatures. The surplus stores are said to be

eaten in the spring by wild boars and bears.

THE PRAIRIE-DOGS AND MARMOTS.

Between squirrels which live in holes in the ground and the marmots and their relations no great gap is found. These creatures drop the climbing habit and increase

Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.] [Parson’s Green.

LONG-TAILED MARMOT.

The marmots live by preference on high and cold mountains just below the line of eternal snow in Europe. In Asia, where the snow-line is higher, they are found at altitudes of 12,000 feet.

The Rodents, or Gnawing Animals that of burrowing. In disposition most of them are still very squirrel-like, though thov gain something in solemnity of demeanour by never going far from their holes. A prairie-dog or marmot is like a squirrel which has left society and settled down in a suburb. The little-creatures known in America as PRAIRIE-DOGS have in Northern Europe and the steppes of Asia some first cousins, called SUSLIKS. Both live in colonies, burrow quickly and well, feed on grass, and have a habit of sitting bolt upright outside their holes, keeping a look-out for enemies. The prairie-dogs also bark like a little dog when alarmed. Before going to sleep, the latter always carry the dry grass on which they slept out of their burrow, and carefully bite up into short lengths a fresh supply to make their beds. The susliks and prairie-dogs-are of a khaki colour, like the sand in which they delight to burrow. Every one has heard that the little burrowing-owls live in the same holes in company with the prairie-dogs, and'

By permission of the New York Zoological Society.

PRAIRIE-DOGS, OR MARMOTS.

A most characteristic picture. It shows the prairie-dogs' method of holding their food while they eat, or cutting up grass to make their teds.

that the rattlesnake sometimes eats both the young prairie-dogs and the young owls. An acquaintance of the writer who had killed a rattlesnake actually took a young prairie-dog from its mouth. The snake had not struck it with the poison, but had begun to swallow it uninjured. It was still alive, and recovered. its remains, with those of other steppe animals, The suslik was once found in England; a-are found in the river gravels and brick earth in the London basin. The prairie-dogs form kind of connecting-link between the susliks and the true marmots. They have short ears, short tails, rounded bodies, and possess great powers of digging. When a prairie-dog has nothing better to do, it usually spends its time either in digging holes or in cutting up grass or anything handy to make its bed with. Young prairie-dogs are not so large as a mouse when born. The adult animals feed almost entirely on grass and weeds in their wild state; they seem quite independent of water, and able to live in the driest places.

The ALPINE MARMOT is a much larger species than the prairie-dog. It lives on the

of the World 152 The Living Animals

five to fifteen marmots combine in Alps- just below the line of perpetual snow. From colonies, dig very deep holes, and, like the prairie-dogs, carefully line them with grass; they also store up dry grass for food. In autumn they grow very fat, and are then dug out of the burrows by the mountaineers for food. Young marmots used to be tamed and carried is probably moreabout by the Savoyard boys, but this practice is now rare. The monkey attractive to the public than the fat and sleepy marmot. Marmots are about the size of a rabbit, and have close iron-grey fur.

Tschudi, the naturalist of the Alps, says of the marmots that they are the only mammal which inhabits the region of the snows. No other warm-blooded quadrupeds live at such an altitude. In spring, when the lower snows melt, there are generally small pieces of short turf near their holes, as well as great rocks, precipices, and stones. Here they make their burrows, outside which they feed, with a sentinel always posted to warn them of the approach of the eagle or lammergeir. The young marmots, from four to six in number, are born in June. When they first appear at the mouth of the holes, they are bluish grey; later the fur gains a brownish tint. The burrows are usually at a height of not less than 7,000 or 8,000 feet. is already covered with snow,Winter comes on apace. By the end of autumn the ground and the marmots retire to sleep through the long winter. As they do not become torpid for some time, they require food when there is none accessible; this they store up in the form of dried grass, which they cut in August, and leave outside their burrows for a time to be turned into hay. The ALPINE MARMOT is also found in the Carpathians and the Pyrenees. Another species, the BOBAC, ranges eastward from the German frontier across Poland, Kussia, and the steppes of Asia to Kamchatka. In Ladak and Western Tibet a short-tailed species, the HIMALAYAN MARMOT, is found, sometimes living at a height of nearly 17,000 feet. The GOLDEN MARMOT is found in the Pamirs.