The American Dormouse, or Ground Squirrel, is a very beautiful animal, striped down the back, and resembling the squirrel in its habits, except that instead of living in trees it burrows in the ground.
THE MARMOT, OR ALPINE RAT.
(Arctomys Marmotta.)
This is a harmless, inoffensive animal, and seems to bear enmity to no creature but the dog. He is caught in Savoy, and carried about in several countries for the amusement of the mob. When taken young, he is easily tamed, and possesses great muscular power and agility. He will often walk on his hinder legs, and uses his fore paws to feed himself, like the squirrel. The Marmot makes his hole very deep, and in the form of the letter Y, one of the branches serving as an avenue to the innermost apartment, and the other sloping downwards, as a kind of sink or drain; in this safe retreat he sleeps throughout the winter, and if discovered may be killed without appearing to undergo any great pain. These animals produce but once a year, and bring forth three or four at a time. They grow very fast, and the extent of their lives is not above nine or ten years. They are about the size of a rabbit, but much more corpulent. When a number of Marmots are feeding together, one of them stands sentinel upon an elevated position; and on the first appearance of a man, a dog, an eagle, or any dangerous animal, utters a loud and shrill cry, as a signal for immediate retreat. The Marmot inhabits the highest regions of the Alps; other species are found in Poland, Russia, Siberia, and Canada.