Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-25
THE OLD STONE WALL
SHELTERS MANY INTERESTING
LITTLE ANIMALS.
The Old Woodchuck and His Arch
Enemy the Collie-Chipmunks
and Deer Mice.
Written for The Star.

| Written for The Star. q.
On one side of our garden there runs an
| old stone wall. 1t was built by farmer folk
who lived a hundred and fifty years ago,
| when men still had the time and the en-
| ergy necessary to erect these most enduring
| of all fences. when they built those homely
but substantial houses which the most culs
! tured people of today are proud to live in,
| and when in addition, they cleared tho
| hills OF spruce and pine and hemlock, that
| they might later wrest a living from thu
| rocky soil.
1t is a famous stone wall, perhaps six
feet through at the base. we'll made and
topped with great fiat slabs of rock, which
make us wonder at the strength and cour<
| age of the stanch men who placed them
there. And It is not tottering, this big, old
| wall, but stands as firm as ever; perhaps
frmer, for in many places the poison IVY
creeper has wrapped her long and powerful
gray about it. 1t is a beautiful wall,
| too, for not only Is there beauty In the
| stones themselves, many of them ground
and shaped by the action of ancient gla-
! ciers, but they are covered with hchena
| and other MOSES, some gray, some blue
| and others green and brown and orange
wonderful at all times, but more so after e
shower of rain. Then, at one end 1t Is
| crowned with wreath of wild clematiss
and the soft shadows between the stones
! are the backgrounds for clumps of golden
| rod, cone flowers and elecampane. !
But perhaps the chief reason why we love-
the old wall is because it shelters so many
of the animals we love In front OF one
| great stone there is heap of sandy soil
| we'll sprinkled with pebbles; this marks
| the entrance to the home of the woodchuck,
| whose burrow runs down under the stone
| as safe a burrow any in New Englands
And the woodchuck who lives there is an
| old resident: He was there long before We
came l hear and / can readily believe II,
| for he is very large and stout ana Venera-
| BILE looking. Very often we see him lying
stretched at full length. summing himself
on the breaStworks which guard the en-
trance to his fortress. Someone's he clam
| bers in a slow and leisurely way to the top
of the wall, where he sits and blinks- :.
Arch Enemy Of the Woodchuck.
His arch enemy is our collie, which put1
| into woodchuck hunting all the thought
and energy she would have bestowed on y
| flock of sheep II we had had one. 1t is said
| that she has killed more "chucks'' than
any other two dogs in the county. and her
former owner tells me that she has a record
| of thirty ground hogs in one season. Stills
her ambition is yet unrealized; she -
most anxious to count the tenant of our
| old stone wall among her victims She has
paid him endless attention. and has tried
all the skill and strategy which has proved
fatal to so many other "chucks," In vain.
At first used to call her off whenever =
saw her besieging the old fellow, but very
soon began to feel that he was quite apio
| to take care Of himself. Z,
| Whenever the dog is stealing softly
through the grass toward the burrow, ina
old woodchuck seems to know all aoous II,
and when the enemy makes her hnaI
charge the old fellow drops into his bur-
row almost automatically, just in front OF
her nose. Nor does he appear alarmed.
When the collie reaches the spot, he is still
| in sight though not quite within reachi /
The dog banks and thrusts her nose as far
in as she can get 1t; not quite far enough
to enable her to reach the woodchuck, buc
sometimes Just far enough to enable him
to bury his big incisor teeth In the soft
flesh This hurts her awfully, Of course,
| but she Is game enough, and only the moro
determined to destroy her tormenter. So
far however, the siege has not been raised. /
and it seems likely that We shall enjoy
| these military operations for some time 70
come They keep the woodchuck from get-
ting lonesome and give the dog something
to live for.
Dainty Little Chipmunk.
On the far side of the wall, and at some
distance from the woodchuck's home, q
chipmunk dwells in the ground. She Is an,
exceedingly dainty little creature, and
seems like fairy when compared with the
bulky old woodchuck She is much buster,
too, most Of the time, for life presents
different problem to her. The woodchuck
makes no preparation for the winter, be-
yona carrying a little grass into his bur-
row and stuffing himself with all the food
he can eat. The chipmunk, on the other
hand, must not only provide for present
needs, but must lay up a great quantity OF
food to last her through the winter.
Every day she comes on the wall, and
often she runs down into our garden, SO we I
have good opportunities to see her at work :
She is very fond of raspberries and other
small fruits and 1 fear that she has ac-
counted for more than one brood or young
birds which were Matched in the grass not
20 from her-hOme. These and certain =
other foods no doubt she classes as per :
ishable," and eats Immediately, before they
ca n spoil reserving such things as nuts,
grain and grass seeds for winter use. Just
now she is storing away apple seeds. She
Jumps >down into the garden, galops over
to tree whose fruit is ripe and, selecting
an apple from the ground scampers back
to the wall with it. There she sits and
bites the apple all to pieces, until she
reaches the core. Then she skillfully takes
out the seeds, stuffs them into her cheek
pouches and scampers off to her burrow.
where she empties her mouth before re-
turning for another load
The Deer Mice.
More dainty still are the deer mice, when
live somewhere in the crevices of the wall,
but which we see less often. Now and
then, while am lying in the shadow OF
the wall, with a book, 1 hear faint
squeak, and look up to see the mischievous
little whiskered face of a mouse looking at
me from some crack or Granny. with pair
of large black eyes, which add much to
the little creatures beauty. If he comes
out further as he usually does If / keep
quiet, see the rich yellowish brown fur of
his back his snowy under parts, his deli
cate white feet and his long silky tail.
He Is famous climber. and sometimes
see him making his way among the
branches of some bush or tree in the gar
den, often twining his long tail about the
twigs to steady himself. There was at
least one family Of these mice born in the
old stone wall last year. and I had hoped
to see more of the beautiful creatures this
spring and summer. have not done so.
however, and perhaps know one reason
why; two or three times last winter / saw /
q pair of white weaseis winding In and out I
between the stones. and 1t is clever {
mouse indeed that can live In the same
wall with weasel,