This is generally in the summer, and the young squirrels re-
main with their parents till the following spring, when they are
^ble to manage for themselves. They have a substantial win"
bOMEgttC PETS. ^29
ier's nest, to which they appear to add every year fresh layers
of hay and moss, to make their habitation more and more warm
and comfortable. It is said the best time to buy a squirrel is at
the end of September, when it is fat and vigorous and its fur is
in good condition; but it is never safe to purchase those which
are sold in the street as "wonderfully tame," and which will
allow themselves to be handled by a stranger, and pulled about,
without showing any disposition to bite. The probability is
that the poor little creatures have been stupified by some drug,
and that they will either recover their natural ferocity in a few
hours, or die — poisoned by the narcotic which has been given
them.
The Dormouse. — The dormouse is very like the squirrel in
many of its habits; it lives upon much the same food, and is a
hybernating animal too, laying up a store of eatables for the
winter, and passing the greater parts of the cold months in sleep.
In a cage it is not seen to advantage; throughout the day it is
generally rolled up into a little soft ball of fur, fast asleep, and
its architectural talents are quite thrown away. It is, in its
wild state, a very clever nest-builder. A writer gives a most
fascinating description of a dormouse's nest, which he found in
a hedge four feet from the ground, in the forking of a hazel
branch, the smaller twigs of which formed a palisade round it.
The nest itself was six inches long and three wide, and construct-
ed of grass blades and leaves of trees. The blades of the sword-
grass were chiefly used, and these were twisted round and be-
tween the twigs so as to form a hollow oval nest. Finer sorts
of grass and the slender stems (not bigger than thread) of deli-
cate climbing weeds, interwoven with the leaves of hazel and
maple trees, were used for the bottom of the nest; the entrance
to which was most ingeniously concealed by long blades of
grass placed across it in such a manner as to spring back to
their places, after having been pushed aside to admit the dor-
mouse into the nest. This was never used as a storehouse; the
little creature had its winter provisions carefully hidden under
a thick branch in the neighborhood of the nest. While hyber-
nating, the dormouse does not seem to require food; but it
wakes up occasionally during the winter, perhaps when a warm
sunny day calls it into life for the time, and then it takes food
^30 DOMESTIC PETS.
before it rolls itself up and sleeps again. It requires a good
deal of warmth, and must have soft hay, moss, and wool, given
it to form its bed, and it does its best with these, but cannot
construct anything very beautiful out of them.
Page 159
Presented as published in 1883. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
This is generally in the summer, and the young squirrels remain with their parents till the following spring, when they are able to manage for themselves. They have a substantial winter's nest, to which they appear to add every year fresh layers of hay and moss, to make their habitation more and more warm and comfortable.
ier's nest, to which they appear to add every year fresh layers of hay and moss, to make their habitation more and more warm and comfortable. It is said the best time to buy a squirrel is at the end of September, when it is fat and vigorous and its fur is in good condition; but it is never safe to purchase those which are sold in the street as "wonderfully tame," and which will allow themselves to be handled by a stranger, and pulled about, without showing any disposition to bite. The probability is that the poor little creatures have been stupified by some drug, and that they will either recover their natural ferocity in a few hours, or die — poisoned by the narcotic which has been given them.
The Dormouse. — The dormouse is very like the squirrel in many of its habits; it lives upon much the same food, and is a hybernating animal too, laying up a store of eatables for the winter, and passing the greater parts of the cold months in sleep. In a cage it is not seen to advantage; throughout the day it is generally rolled up into a little soft ball of fur, fast asleep, and its architectural talents are quite thrown away. It is, in its wild state, a very clever nest-builder. A writer gives a most fascinating description of a dormouse's nest, which he found in a hedge four feet from the ground, in the forking of a hazel branch, the smaller twigs of which formed a palisade round it. The nest itself was six inches long and three wide, and constructed of grass blades and leaves of trees. The blades of the swordgrass were chiefly used, and these were twisted round and between the twigs so as to form a hollow oval nest. Finer sorts of grass and the slender stems (not bigger than thread) of delicate climbing weeds, interwoven with the leaves of hazel and maple trees, were used for the bottom of the nest; the entrance to which was most ingeniously concealed by long blades of grass placed across it in such a manner as to spring back to their places, after having been pushed aside to admit the dormouse into the nest. This was never used as a storehouse; the little creature had its winter provisions carefully hidden under a thick branch in the neighborhood of the nest. While hybernating, the dormouse does not seem to require food; but it wakes up occasionally during the winter, perhaps when a warm sunny day calls it into life for the time, and then it takes food
before it rolls itself up and sleeps again. It requires a good deal of warmth, and must have soft hay, moss, and wool, given it to form its bed, and it does its best with these, but cannot construct anything very beautiful out of them.