The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1875-11-17


Until The weather became fairl
: settled, and really spriag Ike in ten
| persture, these little chipmunks di,
not treque" " show themselves, an'
then only in the middle of the day
The occurrence of cold storm tbe1
appeared to foretell BY twenty-fon
hours, and resumed their bibernatin:
sleep, becoming leIhargie, aud vert
difficult 10 restore to Consciousness
: A pair that ne dug cut ia March
having two days before re-eatersd
their winter quarters and become
aguIn torpid, We're apparently liieles-
when hrst taken up il The hands
and not uaul after several hours
warming did they become lively and
altogether themselves again This
seemed to US the more curious in that
they can respond to a favorable
change IN the weather in a short
time, even when the therm0metrie
change is really but a few degrees.
Ga the 81 Of Nav a pair msie
their appearance in The yard Of our
residence, and took up their abode IL
a stons wall having a southern cut
lCok, aud on the edge Of a steep d.
scent Of seventy feet; which hillside
is thiekly wooded, and harbors scores
of these little ehipmunks, or ground
squirrels, as they are more common
~ called. From the fact Of these
little animals living wholly under
grOuad, and 1t being stated that their
underground homes were quite eiab-
orate IN structure, we determined 10
wait until the pair ia our ward had
completed their excavations Ia and
uuder the stone wall and arranged
their nest, which time we Judged by
tLeir actions, and then seeking uut
the home of another couple, which
was readily accessible, We undertook
TO expose tbs nest and its approaches.
This We did ON May 29th. The nest
contained FIVE young, not more than
forty-eight hours old The Two en-
frances were al the foot Of large
beach tree standing ab0u. six feet
from the brow Of the hill The grass
alone grew about the tree. and the
hole5 on the surface Of the ground
were very conspicuous. No attempt
at concealment had been made; bu,
this was evidently because there i
here almost total absence Of their
particular enemies. Animals s0on
learn this fact, and their homes and
habits vary with the knowledge
From the right hand entrance TO the
nest was aa intervening space Of nine
feet traversed by a cylindrical pas
sage somewhat serpentine in its
course, which made the distance re-
ally about twelve feet. TIE nest IL
self was oval, about twenty inches in
length and ten inches in height Ii
vas lined with very ine grass. We
bad hoped to fud seve-al passages
leading from the nest, and two or
more extra" nests, or magazines for
storing away food, but no trace Of
them as TO be found
On the 23d OF June, six young
rhipnIuuks made their appe rance
about the stone-wall 10 the yard, and
20 these, with their parents, we will
now eonlne our attention 1t puz
zies Us now when this company OF
eight cbipmnnks took any rest Very |
frequently during the summer We
we're asLir at sunrise, but the chip I
hunks were already on the go, and
throughout July they appeared TO do
little but play: which sporting by
tbe-way, is very animated. They
seem to be playing at what children
know as tag J. e, they chase each
other to and fro, and try not simply /
tc touch, we should judge, but TO
bite each others tail The way 10
which they scamper along the taper
Ing points of paling fence is simply /
astonishing; but however mad may
be their gallopiDg let hawk come
lear, and in a moment every one l.
nOtionless. If on a fence, they sim
ply squat wherever they may be al
be time, aud trust to remaining IN
noticed. If on the ground, and not
100 far from their burrows, which i
Iot often the case, they will dart to
heir Eests with an incredible CELEBRITY,
going, We believe, the whole length .
f their gasssge-way to the nest.
urning about, and retracing their
-Ieps to tine entrance from which
hey will peer cut, and, when the
ianger Is over, reappear and recon-
nence their sports. These little ami
mails play merely for plays sake, and
have no more important object in
view than amusement. Indeed, Sc
ar as we have studied animal life,
his indulgence in play, just as chill
iren play, and for the same reasons,
: common to all animals. We have
iften seen most animated movements
N the part of fishes that could be re-
erred only to play.
That ONE work was accomplished /,
Turing July by our eight ehipmuDk- F;
We have no doubt,as early in Angus
We dug out a nest beneath an oak,
a the hillside, aud We found. besides
he nest proper, two nest Ike cavi-
les, and in one Of whieh-that most
isIant from the nest-was about
usrt of yellow corn (maize) We
ldge, therefore, that these "maga
ines" were dug out by the chip
lunks late in the summer, and simi-
lr ones, no doubt, were excavated
v the chipmurks in the stonewall
What they did with the dirt We can d.
OF guess. Certainly not a particle :
{ it could be found about their nests
ntrances:
About August 18th they ecm-
lenced to work in real earnest. Iu-
tead Of playful, careless creatures,
hat lived from hand to mouth, they
ecame very sober and busy indeed Z
instead of keeping comparatively
ear home, they wandered to quite a
israope for them aud hiiing hoth y