Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1840-03-05

interest by the lover of Natural History:
The SoUERREL.-A late number Of the
Dublin Medical Press, contains a very in
teresting account Of the habits of the com-
mon squirrel. The writer, evidently a
n'g"'y educated man, having procured one
rom n'rd tancier, and having with some
o'hlc"ity succeeded in tanning him, had hinr
IN Ills possession for nearly year. Du-
ring this period he ascertaned two circum--
stances connected with the natural history
OF these animals, viz :-Of these facts. the
first has been doubted, and the second h;,h-
er1o altogether unknown. cit was not
until had this interesting creature in nv
possession nearly nine MONTHS" says the
writer, that discovered what had pre-
v'ously been entirely ignorant of, viz that
the squirrel is in part, by preference, car
n'verous. This, from the formation of
their teeth, and structure Of their digestive
organs, appears strange, and I should be-
glad to have it explained; for although I
am relating the habits of an individual, vet
by subsequent, careful, and numerous ex-
periments, ascertained this propensity to
belong to the whole tribe of British SOUR.
rels.
The following is the manner in which
this fact fell under my notice: About eight
or nine months after got this squirrel, F
found in one Of my daily walks magpie,'
with broken wing; and pityine the poor
creature, I brought it home, and having set
the wing as we'll as could that is 20 saw,
placed the edges Of the bone as close to one
another, and tied the injured pinion to the
birds side in as favorable position for per-
hitting onion, as I could placed the
bird in large wicker cage, and hung it Up
in the same apartment with the squirrel
For the first week. the effects Of his wound
and the pain it occasioned, kept the stran-,
ger pretty silent but as his health and
spirits returned, his constant cries attracted
the attention Of my little passionate favor
lite, who, from that moment, appeared to
conceive violent desire to reach the mag
pies cage. This, however, hung far be-
You'd his reach, and the smoothness Of the
wall against which it was placed presenting
no facilities for climbing, set the squirrels
reaching the cage out Of tho question.
His anxiety, and frequent attempts to do
so, however, attracted my attention, and
at length released the object of his curiosi-
ty, as | conceived from it., the cage, and
suffered them both to be at liberty III the
room at once. What was my surprise when
the result was an instantaneous attack or
the squirrels part, and that Of so fierce and
determined nature that the magpe's deatIr
would have been speedy but cruel one,
had not interfered, and for second time
rescued my prisoner from danger. How
ever, although ! prevented my squirrels
INDUCING his taste for flesh in this instances
I procured him other birds, which he
speedily dispatched, and instantly devour-
cd. They appeared, in fact, to be his nat
ural prey, for while flesh was to be got,
dozens Of nuts, even though ready broken
for him, might be neglected in the bottom
of the cage lie commonly slept in; and the
dex,erity he showed in stripping his prey
of their feathers, proved that this descrip-
ton Of food was no novelty. observed
that this practice was TO commence at tho
inferior portion Of the trunk, neglecting the
extremi,ies until nothing else remained,
and rejecting the head altogether.
After this I used to present him with
butchers meat, either raw or dressed,
which he took readily, Unless seasoned.-
Even rhe presence Of salt was sufficient to
insure its refusal. As winter approached,
I was curious to observe in what manner
my little companion would be affected by
the natural changes Of the season, and for
that purpose never put fire in his room /;
and as the season (Which it will DO remom-
bered was very cold one) advanced, he
began to collect store Of nuts, and the re-
mains of birds, ia corner Of his box, as
also to prepare comfortable nest OF MOSS
wool, &c. with which I Supplied him; and
one morning on visiting him, found him
curled up, with bis long tail coiled around
him, cold, insensible, and to oil appearance
dead. In order to satisfy myself OF the
hyberna,ion Of squirrels "a fact denied by
some) as we'll as to see whether hyberna-
ton would be complete in q state of cap
tivity, suffered him to remain in the said
torpid condition for nearly fortnight; at
the end Of which time removed him, cage
and all, to an apartment with good tre
in it,. The consequence of this was, that
in a few hours he revived, and the first
thing he did was to attack his hoard Of pro-
visions, which lie devoured voraciously ;
still, however, showing a strong preference
for the flesh"
SISTER Nance ana me AReT" --V0 "eIo
travelling not long since, in Illinois, and call
ed at house near the road side to solicit a
drink of water, when the following CONVERSE
ton occurred:
well, my boy. how long have you lived
here!'
u don't know. sir, but mother says ever
since was born
Have you any brothers or sisters!'
yes, few
How many?'
Ten or 'leven, 7 reckon
Pretty healthy here, isn't it" 49,,