Every boy and girl loves the little fairy, airy striped chipmunk, half
squirrel, half spermophile. He is about the size of a field mouse, and
often made us think of linnets and song sparrows as he frisked about
gathering nuts and berries. He likes almost all kinds of grain,
berries, and nuts,--hazel-nuts, hickory-nuts, strawberries,
huckleberries, wheat, oats, corn,--he is fond of them all and thrives
on them. Most of the hazel bushes on our farm grew along the fences as
if they had been planted for the chipmunks alone, for the rail fences
were their favorite highways. We never wearied watching them,
especially when the hazel-nuts were ripe and the little fellows were
sitting on the rails nibbling and handling them like tree-squirrels.
We used to notice too that, although they are very neat animals,
their lips and fingers were dyed red like our own, when the
strawberries and huckleberries were ripe. We could always tell when
the wheat and oats were in the milk by seeing the chipmunks feeding on
the ears. They kept nibbling at the wheat until it was harvested and
then gleaned in the stubble, keeping up a careful watch for their
enemies,--dogs, hawks, and shrikes.
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