SQUIRREL. (ABOUT TWO-THIRDS NATURAL SIZE)
Besides tracks, the squirrel leaves other signs which betray its presence in the woods—heaps of cone chips near stumps and other elevations, or strewn under trees one may find twigs from which buds have been eaten. Sometimes the cries of birds whose nests the squirrel may be robbing of eggs or young, will betray his presence. It is an entertaining pastime to hunt squirrels with a small-caliber rifle.
The writer considers the squirrel one of the most injurious creatures of our woods, and believes that in hunting him it is better to use some other weapon than the noisy shotgun.
PART ONE
GROUP III
THE MARTEN AND THE BLACK-FOOTED
FERRET
THOUGH their habitat is entirely different, these two animals make very similar tracks and trails, so they are properly treated of in the same division.
While the marten is a resident of the woods, the black-footed ferret never leaves the open prairie, where it lives in abandoned prairie-dog holes, usually leaving its hole every second night, unless it happens to kill a rabbit. It is the most relentless enemy of the rabbit, and lives almost exclusively on its flesh.