Evening star., 1944-12-02
This and That
By Charles Z. Trdce1Dell.

In complimenting this column on
sticking up for the local squirrels a
correspondent says that he does not
understand how any one could find any
particular fault with them.
That, We believe. is easy to answer.
The fact is that our common gray squir-
rel often interferes with something in
which some one is particularly inter-
ested, such as garden or house
A great many people regard ell such
animals as vermin, and the fact that
the squirrel belongs to the rodent family
merely sets them in their belief
Vermin, according to the dictionary,
means a noxious or mischievous animal,
especially noxious little animals or in
sects, collectively.
Noxious means hurtful, harmful, bane-
full, pernicious, injurious, destructive,
unwholesome, insalubrious.
According to these dictionary defini-
tions then any one who dislikes squir-
rels has a right to call them vermfn
perhaps.
In doing so, however, he overlooks
their great inspirational quality. inher-
ent in their good humor, their real
abilities as acrobats and their influence
on the mind and heart of those who ad-
mire them.
If they would be just to themselves
all persons who call squirrels vermin
would try to find out what it is which so
pleases many other persons.
We know many most particular per-
sons who by no means would be sus-
pected to like 'vermin," in the ordinary
sense. and yet these people not only
like squirrels but are very fond of them.
How come, in the vernacular?
1t basically is because of the COM
pleteness of the squirrel as an animal
It is only now and then, at the most
that our gray squirrels endanger man
kind, rarely by disease and only now
and then by stepping on his toes, as it
were, in some of his pursuits.
The squirrel will eat tomatoes and
corn in the Victory Garden and some
times consume apples in the orchard
or yard.
He will dig up tulip bulbs OCCASION
ally or even eat the tender sprouts of
the crocus as it comes up in spring.
He will get into attics, chaw holes in
awnings and now and then nest in the
wall of house, particularly if he can
get Snlngle loose.
Now and then he does real damage
by getting into locked house and not
being able to get out again His efforts
to escape result in damage to doors and
windows.
He usually digs four or five holes in
lawn before he buries seed or nut,
and even his friends suspect that he
never finds them again
Lastly he does to some extent inter-
fere with feeding the birds, since he
eats much of the seed, especially the
expensive sunflower seed, put out for
the cardinals and other songbirds.
These comprise most of the charges
against the animal
All in all he does not do much real
damage except now and then, when
any one would be justified, even an
admirer of squirrels, for putting a stop
to the damage.
Most OF the hurts, however, are in the
nature of petty interference with the
perfect running of some hobby of the
home owner If the squirrel were the
only creature which interfered some
thing of case might be made out
against him, even here, but the plain
truth is that many something's or other
are always interfering with our activ1-
ties, large or small. If it isn't the
weather, it is race of people around on
the other side of the world if it isn't one
of our own native insects, it is an in
vader brought in by some unsuspecting
airplaneN from the far reaches of CONT
nents many thousands of miles away.
AL in all the gray squirrel is the least
n v1ro hod
our fire and fury for the real persons and
creatures who and which intend us
genuine harm because they hate US.