Evening star., 1932-07-28

Squirrels up trees are not novelties
out our way, so the movements Of this
one did not at first attract attention.
They are forever chasing each other
around and around trunks, leaptng from
leafy branches to houses and back
again to trees.
No one Is ever surprised at anything
a squirrel does, from making precar1-
Gus jumps to indulging in queer noises
best written as ''crekking."
This particular squirrel, however, was
biting off small branches of leaves
about two feet long, and carrying them
down from the heights to crotch some
20 feet from the ground
1t was a mother squirrel building q
nest.
CeaseleSsly she ran up and down the
tree, no sooner biting off a branch
with one sharp snap. which could b.
heard for many feet. than she ran
down to the crotch with it.
And, having pushed it into place with
her forefeet, she Immediately ran back
up the tree again and selected a new
branch.
Sometimes these we're as long as two
feet. thus making about foot of leafy
material protruding on either side o1
her jaws.
Occasionally she would drop branch
which would hutter to the ground from
a distance of so feet or whereabouts.
When this happened the squire
would peer over with its bright eyes, a.
If inquiring what made it drop.
She would at once bite off another
branch and carry it down to the pro-
posed nesting place.
Busily up and down the tree. like g
sort of furry shuttle, she ran on hel
seemingly never ending business o.
housing
There was never any delay, not the
slightest; no sooner had she bitten of
branch, than she ran down with it
and as soon as she had placed it she
ran back up again.
Evidently the topmost branches wert
deemed best by her for her purposes
which came out of those huge
reservoirs which are unexplainable
Words, whether the mightiest or thu
least, do not explain it.
Up and down the tree she went, II
answer to age-old instincts.
The nest, as it fashioned itself, wa.
scarcely work of art, but perhaps il
would do.
The branches Of locust leaves were
merely laid across the crotch OF the
tree, made at a juncture of severa
large limbs.
1t was while the mother squirrel wa!
in the tree top, deftly selecting another
bit Of building material, that a ca
stroiled across the yard.
The squirrel peered down with it,
black, beady eyes.
She stopped.
With enc leap she sprang to another
tree, and shortly was seen descending
the trunk of another, at some distance
1t is amazing how quickly these rodents
can make their ways along their airy
chosen paths.
And she has never been back.
She abandoned her home without
completing 1t, probably figuring that il
was not a very good site, after all.
The fault, however, to a mere human
eye, seemed to lie partly with the squir.
rel, too.
The site she chose was too easily
accessible to other climbing animals
If it had been out from the main trunk
at some distance, in perfectly safe
place, she might have been able tt
continue her work with impunity
The impression she gave a beholdel
was that she suddenly realized. at the
sight of a cat, that her choice had not
been good one.
She could do better elsewhere, anc
knew it. So away she went, and where
she finally built her nest we do mo-
know.
The withered branches Of locust
leaves, in their feathery arrangement
remain in the crotch Of the tree, as 6