Evening star., 1902-09-11
REARING ANIMALS
WARMTH OF MORE INPoRTANcE
THAN FOOD.
Wild Creatures. Require Great Care to
Preserve Life-SauiTrels Raised
on a Botah.

From the Boston Herald.
Unless a person is nNiking~a special study
of young animals he hadnbetter not un-
dertake the rearing of them at ALL as a
ru,e To do the necessary work conscien-
tiously requires more7tirne than most peo-
pie can afford to give to it, and to take
little wild creature from its home and then
neglect it is a crime almost objectionable.
1t sometimes happens, however, that one
has a chance to befriend a helpless young
animal whose parents have been killed,
which has met with an accident, and there
is great satisfaction in being able to keep
it alive and wegl until 1t can shift for it
self.
Last April lady Of my acquaintance
found four young gray SQUIRRELS .clinging
feebly to the foot of pine tree and al
most dead from cold and hunger. The par
ents had been shot the day before by
pot hunting rascal from the city. and the
poor little orphans, driven to desperation.
had crawled out of the nest and down the
tree In search Of relief.
The lady picked them up and carried
them home, and gave them a good meal
of warm milk administered with dropper
The effect was magical. Within an hour
their strength had returned and they were
frisking about the room. They We're put
into a basket of cotton wool. where they
curled up and went to s.eep.
and cold and scarcely able to move their
limbs. The might had been cool. and the
little squirrels had sadly missed the warmth
OF their mothers body. A fire was lighted
and warm milk was administered, but It
was several hours before the patients were
on fair way to recovery.
Need Of Warmth.
Here let me say that warmth is probably
of more Importance than food to many
very young animals. While they may live
two or three days without food II kept in
a warm room. they will often die IL de-
prived of artificial heat for one night in
March, April or May. There are doubtless
many exceptions to this rule. but It cer-
tainly applies to the young of many of the
small Quadrupeds of eastern North America
That their parents are among the hardest
Of animals seems to make little difference
I have known pair of flying squirrels to
sleep away the winter in a frozen tree
leaves for bed yet their young. even
when covered with fur. would probably die
if left alone for March night, though
they might be well fed and carefully
wrapped up They must have the heat Of
their mothers body or its equivalent in
order to live.
Last spring I was making a special study
of young flying squirrels. and there were
three litters born in my house One litter
was born about two weeks later than the
others, and while the little fellows were
still quite helpless their mother mySte-
rously dfsappeared
] divided the litter between the other two
mothers, who took the orphans In and
showed them every attention I congratu-
lated myself in solving 1.-THE problem so
easily. but I soon found that the mother
squirrels, kind and loving as they WERE
had not sufficient nourishrnent for so many
babies and that the latter were losing
strength and becoming thinner.
Every night after that they were given a
good supper of warm milk, which they will
lingly took from dropperh and also gave
the mothers plenty of milk to drink. When
nuts were given to them in addition to the
milk. and they soon began to nibble a lit
tie on their own account. Every one of
them lived and. with the exception of four
which are retained for further study, all
have been liberated in Favorable localities.
- Care of Squirrels. oe,
Not long ago I had occasion to rear
family Of young red squirrels which had
lost their parents before their eyes were
open. They were fed with milk from a
small rubber bottle, the neck Of which
they seized with both front paws and
held tight until they were satisfied.
They were gradually taught to lick milk
from finger. and later to lap it from a
saucer This last Accomplishment was very
difficult to teach them, as they persisted
in getting their nostrils into the liquid. and
TINS would cause them to snort and sneeze
for several minutes. The difficulty was
overcome by covering the bottom of the
saucer with a thin film of milk only and
gradually adding more as It was Tapped up.
Young squirrels should be fed as often
as they will take food. and they should
be given as much each time as they care to
drink or eat. They seem to have pretty
fair idea as to how much is good for them.
At first they may be quite unwilling to
accept the offered nourishment, ard it will
then be necessary to make them take it.
when this Is the case they should be held
firmly, one at a time In the left hand, with
the neck between the thumb and forefinger
while the milk is dropped very, very slowly
into the mouth from a dTopper held in the
right hand Young woodchucks and skunks
may be fed in the same way
Young Mice.
Young mice are much more difficult to
rear. They are so small that it is diff
cult to hold them firm without hurting
them, particularly as they usually strug-
gle great deal. Their mouths are not
large enough to take the end Of a drop
per- but If one is not very clumsy the
mlik may be nicely administered with the
point OF a carnel-hair paint brush. But
1t Is a tedious operation at best and 1t
mas to be repeated SO often tI.at one can
count on little sleep during the first 4S
hours. -
family of eight blind young house
mice which I reared last year required
feeding seventeen times during the first day
and night. and to feed them once took
about three-quarters of an hour.
among the most interesting animals
which L have ever undertaken to rear are
-FOUR young raccoons. which were sent to me
not long ago: They take their milk from
an ordinary baby's bottle and the four Of
them drink pint at a meal: After drink
Ing all they can they usually go to sleep, /
and wake up hungry about four hours
later When they are ready to be fed, they
like tree toad, and, II their wants are not