Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-02-27
This and That
By Charles E. TrdceUeH.
GLEN ECHO HEIGHTS

Dear Sir:
This marks me as one of your fans
(Must produce quite a breeze) After
at long last the snow had melted,
found little fur coat in my yard which
lies surrounded by fairly large wooded
section.
1T weighed hardly anything and was
not CORY 1t was white and long haired,
with little of the pink lining showing
as it lay at distance. At first I
thought it was dab of snow, or long
COB of white cotton.
Later 1 found another white fluff
some TO feet away.
DO you think it was an opossum,
which is seen here of and on, and who
was the epemy9 A dog. or cat. or a
squirrel?
"All of them roam this neighborhood.
"A fairly squirrel proof feeding station
is a tray suspended in the ceiling
of high open porch, which can be
lowered by pully 1t should be placed
far enough from the edges so that it
cannot be reached by jumping You have
a good view and the birds are safely fed
when snow is on the ground
1.-THE other day I saw squirrel run
up tree with discarded orange half
in its mouth. Wonder, was it looking for
minerals?
Grateful reader, B. b.
DR.. BIS torn animal might have been
a white cat.
Whatever it was, the culprit probably
was an owl.
Virginia opossums are gray, rather
than white, and no doubt the ones in
the Free State of Maryland are much
the same.
A white rabbit, torn to pieces, would
look much the same. Many animals of
woods and fields have white stomachs.
There is always a chance of an albino
of course. Albino squirrels are not nu-
merous, there being probably no more
than half dozen in Washington and
the surrounding territory. Black phases
are much more numerous, there prob
ably being 200 or more in and around
Washington.
The opossum is a nocturnal animal,
and so are owls.
AS to squirrel proof bird feeding sta
tons, these always intrigue the inven-
tive mind. The common gray squirrel Is
such determined and persistent fellow,
so full of life and spirit, and such an
acrobat, that it is difficult to outwit him.
The common method is to put the bird
feeder on stake and grease the stake
Usually this works until rain reduces the
slipperiness.
Swinging feeding station in such a
position that not even a squirrel can
get to it is another. Mostly this must
be achieved by the trial and error
method, since there is no telling what
some individual squirrel can reach.
Among squirrels, as among men, some
are better than others. Although all of
them are acrobats, as well as buffoons,
occasionally the observer will see one
which outdoes all his fellows.
Then, too, these rodents have brains.
What they cannot reach on the first try,
they will come to at last, because they
sit of and look at 1t and figure out what
is to be done. We have seen them do it.
Squirrels are inquisitive, and probably
take orange peel into their nests just
to look It over
They also are fruit and vegetable
eaters. as many Victory gardener has
cause to know. Tomatoes, classed as
both fruit and vegetable, is favorite.
Corn, too, intrigues them
squirrel would get from an orange.
especially from the peel, minerals Aand
the famous vitamin c. Squirrels eten
eat apples and raisins. and are very fond
AZ YNulheryiaa