The Savannah morning news., 1902-11-30

| dead cedar tree. He was stripping off
| the fbrous bark. He would roll a
| large wisp of it in his teeth and carry
| it off to the great hollow oak which
he had chosen for his winter dwelling.
1 sat there watching him for nearly
two hours, and in that time he made
three journeys for cedar bark. L nat
urally concluded that that gray squir-
rel would continue to live in the oak
all winted, but when the frost grew
severe he moved to some warmer
place. Where his new retreat was
could not learn. Thus, he made at least
three changes of habitation, all ac-
cording to the condition of the wealth
err.
OF the red squirrels I got much
more exact and interesting informa-
ton. All through the summer there
was a whole colony of them in the
trees around my house. After much
watching in the month of October 1
located what l supposed to be the
winter retreats of two parties of them.
One nest was in a hollow beech, and
it had several jewellers in common.
The other wa sin a hickory, and, as
far as | could learn, there never was
in it more than one squirrel, and he
lived there all through October and
November. These nests were not
more than seventy or eighty yards
from my windows, so 1 kept continual
watch on them.
At last there came a heavy fall of
snow, accompanied by a frosty wind,
and my red squirrel in the hickory
tree moved. He did not move alone,
but went with six others, probably
those from the beech tree, to a large
chestnut thirty yards nearer my door.
In the ground under this chestnut tree
there is a hole about as large as a
rof h11n n sx,%o = H., !
hocked to pass the severest part of
winter.
The nest of the red squirrel, like
that of its gray brother, is made of
cedar bark. 1 saw fragments of the
bark on the sides of the hole under
the chestnut tree.
Twenty times during the winter I
put a handful of nuts at the mouth of
this hole. If 1 put them there at mid
day, they often remained untouched
all day and through the night, but
they were invariably taken away with
in half an hour after sunrise. | found
that all squirrels come out of their
nests about sunrise. On many days
they go back in less than an hour and
do not come out again all day.
My cellar has served as a winter
retreat for many animals. Late in the
fall some garter snakes came in there
to hibernate, and / left them in there
in peace. When snow came a mink
also took up his abode there He soon
discovered and ate several of the gar
ter snakes. Two shrews also put in
an appearance, and they come out on
sunny days, through a little hole in
front of the door, to enjoy the warmth
of the winter sun. They had a regu-
lar time for appearing, usually about
twenty minutes to two, and on these
occasions they took away the little
morsels OF meat which l placed by the
door for them.
Many other creatures last winter
shared my dwelling with me. numer-
Gus large-eyed wood mice being
among the number that kept me COM
pany.
One evening a gentleman called to
see me. l had just finished tea and
laid the tray with the tea things upon
II on top Of a snakes cage near my
elbow.
Look at your elbow" said my Wis
itor.
There was a large, brownish-red
wood mouse sitting upon the edge OF
the tea cup that had been drikng
from.
sit stil." said I. ne is an old
friend and will take his tea II We
don't scare him"
had hardly said the words when
the wood mouse went down into the