Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-03-08
UNDERWRITERS,
SQUIRREL CHARACTERIsTICs.
From All Accounts They Are q Mi,
chfevOus Race of Animals.

chievous Race of Animals.
From the London News
1t may be thought that only those ami
mails who are in close companionship with
human beings develop human traits Of char
acter, but sport-loving German has just
been telling me of an adventure of his with
Wild squirrel in the forests of Posen. The
story illustrates the nonkeylike pranksome-
ness OF the merry, mischievous race that
am watching with interest and delight in
the beech trees and pines of the Alps. Ny
acquaintance had gone out very early with
the proprietor of the forest on a shooting
expedition. In the early dimness, beneath
the thick branches of the fir trees he was
hit sharply by cone. In the half light he
could not at first see whence the missile
came though he peered about in every d.
rection. Presently another fir cone struck
him snartly, and he caught sight of his
asSailant-a SQUIRREL Standing as still ms
he could he watched the little creature
throw cone after cone at him with excel
lent aim, holding them between his teeth
ana swinging them back and forth before
flinging them down.
I am astonished at the wanton waste and
destruction Of the Alpine squirrels. They
shower down any quantity of beechmast
above and beyond what they cat. Seeing
them at their tricks / must perforce con-
clude that 1t is for fun that they go
spreading ruin and scattering BAN" They
strip nut trees Of their hazels neatly diytd-
Ing some shells to devour the kernels. But
they also strew the ground with punches Of
ripe nuts, in fashion "wanton as drunken
ness. The severe unitarian who should
say that the squirrel who flung the cones
was only trying to see what the sportsman
was made of evidently has not watched the
bright. furry fellows at their sports. Cac-
chinatfon-one of the best words for laugh
Ter OF a sort-must have been modelled on
the hilarious chucklings of squirrels. More
over. they grin Qabially), and their ewes
twinkle in delight as they gambol and frisk
from bough to Dough. We have the hand
some, dark brown variety here, and also
the smaller red kind. "a tiny red fellow
with a broken tail sprang from a branch
close to me the other day. I remained per
fectly still. and he eyed me curiously from
head to foot; did not like me after pro-
ionged examination; sprang upon tree bole
O little further OF, and, with a flourish Of
his remnant tail, went down the "off side"
50 that l lost sight of him altogether If
only any judge could be as wise as that
squirrel looked when he summed me up. and
found me dangerous we should all cry "a
Daniel come to Judgment! yea, a Danielr
Inat cone-throwing German squirrel, the
sportsman thinks, was only bent on getting
RID OF an intruder; but I should not wonder
II ne were simply playing practical joke
A friendly Alpine poacher tells me that
squirrel here will have three four or
nVe nests, and, not being over refined nv
poaching acquaintance mentions the word
"feas" "a word which is not permissible In
polite society in Italy, in connection with
the squirrels frequent changes OF domicile.
he AYERS that when the 'pulex irritans'' ab-
solutely swarms in one nest the owner
moves on to another. and then another, till
the parasitic colony in the first abode has
died down. Even very poor human inhabi-
tants or these valleys have two or three
cnaiets at different elevations, bat migra-
tfons are. l believe, guided chiefly by agri-
cultural considerations