The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-03-27

were away when the tree fell.
AS I walked along the trunk of the tree
that / recognized that I had stepped on
something soft l became aware of a crea-
ture beneath my feet uttering strange
piece of bark, that had just been torn off
the tree, a silvery bat. While it is found
over temperate America, it is in In
diana.
SQUIRRELS AND RACCOONS.
The squirrels are the most common mann
mails seen among the tree tops. They are
also the most numerous Of those animals
that are active by day. The chickaree is a
very common little squirrel among the
forests of northern North America It is
also called the pine squirrel and the little
red squirrel. They are common as far
south as northern Indiana and southern
Pennsylvania, and are found rarely south to
within fifty miles Of the Ohio river Where
they are numerous their merry chirr is
characteristic sound. Owing to their small
size they are not often shot for food When
.unmolested they become very tame, even
entering houses that are located quite near
the woods. In some localities it is believed
the chickaree drives off other SQUIRRELS
The gray squirrel is a familiar object to
al who have spent much time in the woods
nd mg no Of fb fray squirrel ranges chiefly
Farther south the Southern gray squirrel. a,
smaller kind, is found. These Squirrels are
70 some extent migratory. In the DAYS
When the country was new they gathered in
countless numbers into great companies and
travelled They traversed prairie and forest
and were not stopped by the widest rivers
a., Inc fox squirrel often makes its home in
the more open woodland They learn the
nelghporhood and get to know their enc
mics. frequently they live for years in sit
uatlonS mat are quite exposed, places that
would seem to be poorly suited for squir-
reIs home. The young of these SQUIRRELS
may be found at any time between Feb
ruary and October but are most common
early in spring. The nests are usually i'm
cavities IN trees, but they are sometimes
nuilt OF twigs among the limbs, or even an
old crows nest IS utilized. White and black
squirrels are sometimes seen, but they are
rare and belong to one of the two kinds last
mentioned.
The flying squirrels usually occupy the
lower levels of the forest. Their homes are
in holes in stubs from ten to forty feet up
put 1 have found them as much as eighty
feet high.
In spring, during sugar-making time. it
was my delight when a boy to wander
through the woods and pound with an ak
uron the partly rotten stumps to see what
life j could arouse. Usually, If there We're
flying squirrels within. but one or two
strokes would be necessary to bring one out.
Repeating the pounding, others would ap-
pear, until often five or six came out of one
hole Running to the top OF the snag, they
and held stin, and the outstretched legs
Kept taut the connecting skin, all acting as
g parachute to sustain them, that they
descended in a gradual decline. When they
approached the foot of some tree, they
seized il, ran rapidly far towards the top. to
be ready 10 start from a high point when
they made the next leap.
In the fall they store such food as squir-
rels like, then during the colder weeks
hibernate. In March they reappear, and
then mating begins. Young ar6 found from