The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1909-11-06

tumbling along the passage after their mother
to the entrance Of the burrow and looked with their
great beautiful brown eyes upon the outside world
What marvellous surprise it have been TO them TO
view the green grass and the beautiful flowers
When satisfied that there no danger lurking in
the immediate vicinity the mother led the way into the
grass, followed by the cubs, which tun.bled along in
in everything and when she nbbed clover-ieaf they
followed her example and soon the sharp little teeth
had learned to cut the juicy leaves.
The real object of their first outing was soon accom-
pished-that of filling their stomachs; and then they
began playing about in the grass, very much like pup
pies but the mother was careful not to let them wander
tar from the entrance of their home for il her trained
ear caught the sound of something approaching she
would hustle the little into the burrow Once the
heard the deep breathing Of the dog at the mouth of the
tunnel. The exertion and excitement must have made
their little hearts beat fast and for the first time in their
lives they learned what it was TO be frightened
This was only the beginning of their education; for
day after day they came out of the burrow and when
they scrambled back something had been added to their
little stock of woodchuck knowledge part of this
knowledge obtained by copying their mother but by
far the greater part came through instinct and expert
Some attention was given to the art of climbing trees
and fences for from elevated positions they could COM
mand much more extended view of meadow and wood
land Yes, woodchucks really climb fences and small
trees though their FIRST attempts very clumsy Never
day passed that the little woodchucks did not receive
lesson IN dangersgnals. They learned to dstin
gush among the many sounds that to their ears
those that threatened harm from those that meant no
harm at all They learned that dog is not danger
GUS foe as his presence usually made known while he
IS some distance off, but they learned to be very wary
when fox was in the vicinity
once knew dog, however, that was famous wood
chuck-hunter After locating woodchuck Shep would
watch his movements for little time; then while the
woodchuck feeding he would directly toward
IT, keeping his body close to the ground but would stop
instantly and lie very still whenever the woodchuck
raised itself its launches to look about for danger
When Shep believed himself to be near enough ia the
entrance of the burrow, he would make dash for IL
and if he reached it first there sure to be one less
woodchuck to feed upon the clover
EhnvaA ta ~irr A. FfaaF-
pretty nearly grown up; and they settled down to
the serious business of life either finding deserted bur
row or oggng one TOR themselves. Within space of
three days the old burrow had but occupant the
mother.
Usually each woodchuck has burrow by itself but
occasionally pair will live together through the winter
came upon such pair not far from the summer home
which had so interested me, and / pleased myself by
imagining they were two Of my old friends. The spot
they had selected for their burrow was on gentle sunny
slope in one of the meadow. They had evidently
been working little by little on the new burrow before
ness OF it, and worked with will They made rapid
progress for the feet armed with powerful claws
and there web between the toes, combination which
makes an excellent pick and shovel The fore feet are
used principally for digging, and the hind ones for
throwing backward the loosened earth and stones
For some distance from the entrance their burrow in-
cned downward quite sharply and then turned slightly
upward and continued along beneath the surface for
distance OF fifteen feet There a small side tunnel,
tour feet long, which ended in exit the main burrow
ended in chamber of considerable size in which there
was quantity of fine grass for bedding
When the woodchucks had completed their home they
had nothing to do but to eat and doze about in the sun
With few weeks of this sort of life there came won
derul change in their appearance their cheeks were dis
tended, their fur glossy, and their skins were
stretched with fairness
When September was we'll advanced they could eat no
more and had only to wait and doze away the time until
about the first week in October, when Mother Nature
would send them to sleep for the winter The blood be-
gan TO flow more slowly through their veins droWsi-
ness which they could not resist gradually crept over
Them and finally they curled themselves into balls of
fur side by side in their snug retreat and fell asleep
Warm autumn days followed with their mellow light:
Indian summer came and went, but the siunber of the
woodchucks was unbroken; and thus the cold bleak
winter passed in one long dream of summer