Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-06-15
ANN ARROR.s SQUIRRELS.


i
| From the Detroit Journal
| Tho sroa.os. s,,eo. +, <.
| ~, -" ann A''of rum
| 'he tremendous rain or last week were the
| gray squirrels. The frisky little fellows
| were at loss to know what to do.when
| tho downno,r s,or,a a,a &C.. . h,,u,,
| oons,,,..,i@. ~ 80, ".'' -
GUNS ui'a'ioh with the'r pest friends In the
| squiFrei society or the place. they scam
| pered this way and that to get in out of the
wet Anything that offered shelter was a
y eoassnd q, ~, r., 80 1900,
|
| 'tooAS lhes "a'cheo 'he oiros hopping
| ABOUT In the storm with eyes in which
| burned most apparent fires Of envy The
gentle little animals were to be seen In the
| most outlandish places by those wayfarers
| who were so unfortunate. as to be caught
| in the storm.
| At about O'Clock in the afternoon when
| the rain was falling in veritable torrents,
coming along washtenaw avenue.
At the crossing of Nolland street of
| the little gray-backed chaps poked his nose
| out at the end Of an old disused culvert,
| to the side of which he was clinging. Be
| meath his cuivering body rushed The river
of the street. but he hung for dear life
| to save his coat He permitted me to touch
! him. His eyes wavered as l rubbed his
| nose. but otherwise he made no sign of
| fright He probably figured that it was his
fate either to be drowned or killed by man.
| and between the two he had no choice.
While walking through the back hall Of
house up in the east end of the town
| later in the afternoon. my attention was
| attracted to a window against the pane of
| which dangled the bushy tail of a gray
| squirrel. To get in out of the storm the
| little fellow had climbed the screen of the
easement and dropped down between it
and the glass of the window. He obtained
| thus an unobstructed view of the storm.
and at the same time was dry a
| match. Through the glass he gazed at me
| with no sign of fear. l passed my hand to
| and fro across the pane but he continued
| washing his face after the manner of a cat
| md yptr fha Jnu on ha of 10
side of the screen, as calm and cool as
you please. His delight when 1 dropped
! into his rainy-day retreat the meats Of
| half dozen English walnuts was exceed
| ingly great. He ate the nuts with neatness
| and dispatch. and then sat in his narrow
| summer house on his launches and gazed
steadily at me- saying thus as plainly as
| though he ard I both understood the Ian
guage of the squirrels that he had finished
| that course and was ready for the next.
To save his suit a little bit of a gray
stood on the back porch of a Washtenaw
avenue house Thursday afternoon and in
| some way must have by his movements
disarranged the balls and mallets. for the
| cover dropped on him. making him pris-
| oner. Next morning. when the owner of
| the set repaired to the back yard for has
| of the box to select his ball and mallet. the
| little chan was out and fifty feet away at
| a leap
These frisky and playful little animals
| are about ali that makes life worth living
| here in Ann Arbor these days to one who
| is not in college or otherwise engaged in
charging his intellect the true vocation OF
the average Ann Arborite. They abound
not only on the campus but in the strictly
residence districts. and in many instances
| have become as tame as kittens. Occasion
ally they grow to a size that for squirrels
| Is immense, looking more like gray cats
| with tails like lamp chimney cleaners than
| the normal regulation squirrel.
There is a movement on foot in a certain
| southern city to inclose the Town Hall
| Park and plant a lot of gray squirrels
| therein for the benefit of the street-swarm-
ing children The fathers of the town ought
| to send a commission up here to see just
what a squirrel may make of himself after
| a course of instruction and feeding al the
hands of Ann Arbor citizens. The sauir-
rels, like every other living thing here have
| an air Of their own that places them in a
position somewhat unique. They seem to
know more than the average squirrel
knows or even is supposed capable of
knowing. The air of this Athenian spot
seems to have filtered into their little minds
and souls with a result that they are away
above the old-tilne squirrel In point of in
telligence With very little trouble they
may be tanned, and thereafter taught tricks
| that even an old, well-loved house dog
might envy.
There is a certain professor of political
economy on Church street whose penchant
| is gray SQUIRRELS He has a legion of the
little fellows crawling about him and wink
ing their tails at him whenever he makes
| his appearance on his front porch He
takes the trouble to tame them and teach
| them all the popular tricks that one looks
| for in the dog whose mistress bathes and
combs him twice a week
There is a certain squirrel Of the profess.
sors brood or flock, or tribe, or whatever
the squirrel collective may be. that crawls
upon his knee whenever he sits on the
lowest step of the porch and begins to
| crack the loved nuts for the little fellows,
There the squirrel sits upon his haunches
and reaches out with his very hantllike lit
| tie paws for the meats as they are picked
out for him His zeal knows 70 bounds,
and If the kindly professor does no. crack
the nuts with the rapidity he deems proper
| he gets right down under the hammer al
most and seizes the walnuts as they spln-
ter. digging out the meats himself. ioath to
wait. And around in front Of the profess
sor at his feet, sit dozen other Of the lit
tie fellows, more tim1d than their brave fell
low, in a crescent cycling every motion Of
the hand that Yields the hammer and
scrambling for the shells tossed them like
a family of Panama ptckaninnies for a
penny
Now and again they fight. and the older
squirrel Che who sits upon the knee of his
human friend) must needs jum1 down and
cuff the rngleaders of the disturbance right
smartly Then, when peace is restored. he
leaps back upon the friendly knee and the