Identifier: annualreport891901021newy (
find matches)Title:
Annual reportYear:
1902 (
1900s)Authors:
New York (State). Forest, Fish and Game CommissionSubjects:
Forests and forestry Fisheries Game and game-birdsPublisher:
(Albany, N.Y. : The Commission)Contributing Library:
Smithsonian LibrariesDigitizing Sponsor:
Biodiversity Heritage LibraryView Book Page:
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view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.Text Appearing Before Image:deepest part of the Adirondacks, in the ever-green forests, where the deep shade would appear to cast a gloom over the spiritsof almost anything, the wanderer will find these cheerful animals chasing throughthe tree tops, or sitting on a limb, chattering and scolding at him in a mostimpudent manner. Dr. Clinton Hart Merriam, to whom we are indebted for a most interestingaccount of the mammals of the Adirondacks, and whose paper has been fre-quently drawn on in the preparation of this, sums up the character of the red squirrelin a most happy manner. He says: The Chickaree combines qualities sowholly at variance, so unique, so incomprehensible, and so characteristic withal,that one scarcely knows in what light to regard him. His inquisitiveness,audacity, inordinate assurance, and exasperating insolence, together with hisinsatiable love of mischief and shameless disregard of all the ordinary customs andcivilities of life, would lead one to suppose that he was little entitled to respect;Text Appearing After Image:RED SQUIRREL (SCIURUS HUDSONICUS GYMNICUS) THE SQUIRRELS AND OTHER RODENTS OF THE ADIRONDACKS. 339 and yet his intelligence, his untiring perseverance, and genuine industry, thecunning cleverness displayed in many of his actions and the irresistible humorwith which he does everything, command for him a certain degree of admiration.He is arrogant, impetuous, and conceited to an extreme degree, his confidence inhis own superior capabilities not infrequently costing him his life. In fact, thesecontradictions in character and idiosyncrasies in disposition render him apsychological problem of no easy solution. As mentioned above, he is found in all parts of the Adirondacks and at alltimes. From the earliest morning till sunset he is always abroad and busy, andeven after dark, especially on moonlight nights, he may sometimes be seen,stealing through the trees, and much more quietly than during the day. Then,too, cold has no effect on him, for even when the mercury is at its lowest andthe snNote About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.