The natural home of the flying squirrel is a hole in a tree, where he makes a soft nest, deep enough to burrow into until completely hidden. But a hole anywhere, except in the ground, attracts him. Whole families will take up their quarters in an unoccupied house if they can squeeze themselves through some crack or crevice, and will frequently refuse to vacate when the rightful owner appears and claims the premises.
I have several times made pets of the young flying squirrels, and they are the prettiest, most friendly and entertaining little things imaginable, as tame as kittens and as harmless. They are nocturnal in their habits, sleeping all day in their woolly nests and scampering about all night, full of mischief and merry play.
If you wake one of the baby squirrels from its nap and take the drowsy little thing in your hands you will love it immediately; it is so soft, so babyish, so unresisting.
A rare but most beautiful dweller in the woods is the
Luna Moth
named for the moon and sometimes called the “queen of night.” One evening just at dusk it was my good fortune to find a luna moth clinging to a forest tree by the roadside. It had but recently emerged from its chrysalis and was slowly moving its delicate wings back and forth, drying them in the warm night air and strengthening them for flight.
The Tropœa luna, as the scientists call it, is one of the giant silk-worm moths. It has the large, fuzzy body of the moth, with the feather-like antennæ; but its wings are unusual in shape. Nearest the tail they are extended to form long appendages, which curve gracefully outward. The color is a delicate light green, the edges of the fore-wings are bordered with a band of purplish brown, and they are further ornamented with four large eyes.
Luna Moth.
Look on the ground under the walnut, hickory, or other hard-wood trees for the cocoon, as it is on these trees the larva feeds.