Little Bo-peep sat down on a heapOf hay—she was tired with running;When up came a rook, who at her did look,And nodded his head and looked cunning.Little Bo-peep said, "Why do you keepSo near to me every day, sir?With your very sharp beak, pray what do you seek,For you always seem just in my way, sir?""Little Bo-peep, it is your sheep,Not you, that I come to see, ma'am;Their wool is so soft, that I want it oftIn my nest for my young ones and me, ma'am."Said little Bo-peep, "The wool you may sweepFrom the hedges and many a thorn, sir;But don't make your attacks upon my sheep's backs,For I will not have their wool torn, sir."The rook he cawed, and he hummed and hawed,And muttered, "What matter, what matter?"Bo-peep she said, "Go—I have said no, no;So it's useless for you to chatter."
Little Bo-peep sat down on a heapOf hay—she was tired with running;When up came a rook, who at her did look,And nodded his head and looked cunning.
Little Bo-peep said, "Why do you keepSo near to me every day, sir?With your very sharp beak, pray what do you seek,For you always seem just in my way, sir?"
"Little Bo-peep, it is your sheep,Not you, that I come to see, ma'am;Their wool is so soft, that I want it oftIn my nest for my young ones and me, ma'am."
Said little Bo-peep, "The wool you may sweepFrom the hedges and many a thorn, sir;But don't make your attacks upon my sheep's backs,For I will not have their wool torn, sir."
The rook he cawed, and he hummed and hawed,And muttered, "What matter, what matter?"Bo-peep she said, "Go—I have said no, no;So it's useless for you to chatter."
"There's a merry brown thrush sitting up in the tree;He's singing to me! He's singing to me!""And what does he say, little girl, little boy?""'Oh, the world's running over with joy!Don't you hear? Don't you see?Hush! Look! In my treeI'm as happy as happy can be.'"
"There's a merry brown thrush sitting up in the tree;He's singing to me! He's singing to me!""And what does he say, little girl, little boy?""'Oh, the world's running over with joy!Don't you hear? Don't you see?Hush! Look! In my treeI'm as happy as happy can be.'"
The Trap!
1. Here are some of our near neighbors, little fellows in fur, who are so very friendly that they visit us by night and by day, and seem as much at home in our house as we are.
2. When, in the night, wehear tiny feet as they patter over the floor, or scamper across the pillow, or we find in the morning that the loaf for breakfast has been gnawed and spoiled, we are not apt to feel friendly toward the mouse.
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3. But, as he stands here by the trap, let us take a good look at him. We find that he has a coat of fine fur, which he always keeps clean, and a long tail that has no hair. He has whiskers like the cat; sharp claws, so that he can run up the side of a house, or climb anything that is a little rough; and eyes that can see in the night.
4. He has large ears, so that he can hear the faintest sound; and short legs, so that he can creep into the smallest hole.
5. His nose is pointed, and his under jaw is shorter than the upper one. In front, on each jaw, he has two sharp teeth, shaped like the edge of a chisel, and these he uses to gnaw with.
6. These teeth are growing all the while; and if he does not gnaw something hard nearly every day, so as to wear them off, they will soon become so long that he can not use them.
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1. Mice increase so fast that, if we did not have some way to destroy them, they would soon overrun the house, so that we could not live in it.
2. They have their homes in the hollow walls, and can go about from one part of the house to the other without being seen; and when they smell food they gnaw a hole through the wall to get at it.
3. They are playful little animals, and may easily be tamed. When a mouse comes into the room where people live, it is ready to run away at once if anything moves.
4. But if all are still, it will scamper about the floor, and look over and smell everything in the room. The next day it will come back, and finally it will play about the room as if no one were there.
5. The mice that run about the house have gray coats; but some mice are white, with pink eyes, and these are often tamed and kept as pets.
6. A lady once tamed a common gray mouse, so that it would eat out of her hand. She also had a while mouse in a cage.
7. The gray mouse was very angry when he saw the lady pet the white mouse; and one day he some way got into the cage, and when the lady came back into the room, she found the white mouse was dead.
8. Music sometimes seems to have a strange effect upon a mouse. At one time, when a man was playing upon his violin, a mouse came out of his hole and danced about the floor. He seemed almost frantic with delight, and kept time to the music for several minutes. At last he stopped, fell over on the floor, and they found he was dead.
White-Paw starts to see the World
1. White-paw was a young mouse that lived with his mother. Their home was in a barn, behind some sacks of corn, and a very nice home it was.
2. When a sunbeam flashed in upon them at midday, "That was the sun," said Mrs. Mouse. When a ray of the moon stole quietly in, "That is the moon," said the simple-minded creature, and thought she was very wise to know so much.
3. But little White-paw was not so contented as his mother. As he frisked and played in his one ray of sunshine or one gleam of moonlight, he had queer little fancies.
4. One morning, while at breakfast on some kernels of corn and sweet apples which his mother had brought home, he asked:
5. "Mother, what is the world?"
6. "A great, terrible place!" was the answer, and Mrs. Mouse looked very grave indeed.
7. "How do you know, mother? Have you ever been there?" asked the youngster.
8. "No, child; but your father was lost in the great world, my son," and Mrs. Mouse's voice had a little shake in it.
9. "Ah!" said the son, "that was for want of knowing better."
10. "Knowing better! Why, he was the wisest mouse alive!" said the faithful Mrs. Mouse.
11. "I could not have been alive then," thought White-paw to himself. Then he said aloud, "Mother, I have made up my mind to go and see the world; so good-by!"
12. His mother wept. She tried to have him stay at home and be content—but all in vain; so she gave him a great hug, and he was off.
what the mice saw
1. He had not gone many steps when he met Mr. Gaffer Graybeard, a wise old mouse, and a great friend to the family.
2. "Well, where are you off to, Mr. Pertnose?" he asked, as the young traveler was whisking by. "I'm off to see the world," was the answer.
3. "Then good-by, for I never expect to see you again; but take an old mouse's advice, and beware of mouse-traps." "What are mouse-traps?"asked White-paw. "You will know when you see them," was the answer.
4. White-paw went on his way, and just outside he met another young mouse who had also started to see the world, and the two went on together.
5. "Oh, how big the world is!" said White-paw, as they went into the farm-yard, and began to look about them.
6. "And what queer creatures live in the world!" said the other, as the cocks crowed, the hens clucked, the chickens peeped, the cow lowed, the sheep bleated, the pigs grunted, and the old house-dog barked.
7. "If we are to find out about the world, we must ask questions," said White-paw.
8. So the two friends went about, stopping every now and then to admire or wonder at the new things they saw every moment.
9. Soon they came across a friendly-looking pig. "Please, sir," asked the wee simple things, "are you a mouse?"
10. The pig looked down to them through his "specs" as he heard the question in the tiny little squeaking voice, and he grunted a little as he replied:
11. "Yes, if you like to call me so," and the two friends went on.
12. In a little while they came up where the old cow was feeding; and White-paw, taking off his hat, said, "Please, are you a mouse?"
13. The old cow was too busy to answer such questions, but she shook her head in such a way that the travelers were glad to get off safe.
14. "There are great friendly mice, and great unfriendly mice, in the world!" said White-paw, as they went on their way.
15. Next they met a motherly old hen, who was busy in scratching up food for her chickens; and White-paw asked, "Please, ma'am, are you a mouse?" "We don't mind what folks call us," said the old hen, giving them a friendly wink.
16. As they went on they learned a great many things about the world; but as yet White-paw had not heard one word about a mouse-trap.
17. Having gone around the farm-yard, White-paw and his friend went through the gate toward the house. Here they met the dog, and asked the same question that they had asked before.
18. But the dog barked and snapped so that they could not ma ke him hear, and they ran away in terror.
running from the cat
1. In their haste the two friends bolted into the kitchen of the farm-house, where an old tabby-cat lay dozing before the fire. But when they came in she arose to meet them.
2. "What a polite fat mouse!" thought White-paw. "Please, ma'am—" But pussy's eyes were fixed upon him with a horrid glare, and he could not go on.
3. Alas! his poor little friend! There was acry and a crunching of bones, and White-paw just escaped through a hole into the pantry.
4. When he had in part got over his fright, he smelled toasted cheese—something he had heard of but never tasted. He sniffed about, and soon saw it in a little round hole.
5. By this time he was very hungry, and he reached out for the dainty morsel; but there was a sudden click, and he turned back—but too late! His tail and one of his legs were caught by the cruel teeth of a trap.
6. He pulled with all his might, but could not get away. He heard a little squeak, and an old mouse came limping up with only three legs.
7. "Pull hard, my son; better lose a leg and tail than your life. See! I was caught like you. How came you here?" he asked.
8. "I came to see the world, and 'tis a terrible place!" As White-paw spoke, he pulled himself free, but left one paw and the point of his tail in the trap.
9. The two hopped off together, and, after some friendly advice from the old mouse, White-paw limped away to his home, and soon found himself by his mother's side, where he could have his wounds dressed, and rest in peace.
My dear son
1. "My dear son, what is the world like?" asked Mrs. Mouse, after she had hugged White-paw, and set his supper before him.
2. "Oh, it's a grand place! There are great black mice, and great white ones, and great spotted ones, and great friendly mice with long noses, and great uncivil mice with horns.
3. "Then there are queer mice with only twolegs, and some terrible mice that make a great noise." At this moment, Gaffer Graybeard came in, and White-paw said, "Sir, I've learned what a mouse-trap is." "Ah! then," said the sage, "you've not seen the world in vain."
three blind mice
Three blind mice! Three blind mice!See how they run! See how they run!They all ran after the farmer's wife;She cut off their tails with a carving-knife.Did you ever see such a thing in your lifeAs three blind mice?
Three blind mice! Three blind mice!See how they run! See how they run!They all ran after the farmer's wife;She cut off their tails with a carving-knife.Did you ever see such a thing in your lifeAs three blind mice?
"Here lies poor Puss!"—"Who saw her die?" asked Grandmother Mouse,Just peeping forth from her hole of a house."I," said Tommy Titmouse, "I saw her die;I think she was choked while eating a fly.""Who'll dig her grave?" asked Granny again;In her voice, strange to say, there was no tone of pain."The honest old dormouse, out in the wood,He'd dig a good grave, if any one could.""Who'll be the bearers?" The grandchildren allWere ready at once, at sound of the call."We'll carry Puss, since she can't carry us,And bury her deep, without any fuss."One seized her fore paw, another her tail,Another her ear, to make sure not to fail.Then off they all ran, for Puss winked her eye,And sprang to her feet, as the mice squeaked "Good-by."
"Here lies poor Puss!"—"Who saw her die?" asked Grandmother Mouse,Just peeping forth from her hole of a house."I," said Tommy Titmouse, "I saw her die;I think she was choked while eating a fly."
"Who'll dig her grave?" asked Granny again;In her voice, strange to say, there was no tone of pain."The honest old dormouse, out in the wood,He'd dig a good grave, if any one could."
"Who'll be the bearers?" The grandchildren allWere ready at once, at sound of the call."We'll carry Puss, since she can't carry us,And bury her deep, without any fuss."
One seized her fore paw, another her tail,Another her ear, to make sure not to fail.Then off they all ran, for Puss winked her eye,And sprang to her feet, as the mice squeaked "Good-by."
field mice
1.Somekinds of mice live in the fields and woods, and never come into the house. The tiny little harvest-mouse has its home in the grain or thick grass, and feeds upon grain and insects.
2. It makes a nest of grass neatly woven together, and places it on the stalks, about a foot from the ground, where it is out of the way of the wet.
3. The nest is round, and about the size of a large orange. When the mother mouse goes away, she closes up the door of her nest, so no one can see her little ones.
4. The harvest-mouse runs up the corn and grass stalks easily. In climbing, it holds on by its tail as well as by its claws. The way it comes down from its nest is very curious. It twists its tail about the stalk and slides down.
5. Another of the field-mice is the dormouse, that lives in the woods. It has a bushy tail, and makes its nest in hollow trees. It lives upon nuts and fruit. As cold weather comes on, it rolls itself up in a ball, and sleeps until spring.
6. Once a dormouse was caught and kept in a cage, when it became quite tame, and a great pet with the children. One day it got out of its cage,and the children hunted all over the house, but could not find it, and gave it up as lost.
field mouse
7. The next day, as they sat down to dinner, a cold meat-pie was put upon the table. When it was cut open, there was the dormouse in the middle, curled up, and fast asleep.
8. The deer-mouse lives mostly in the fields, but it also makes its home in barns and houses. Its back and sides are of a slate color, but the under part of its body, and its legs and feet, are white. It is sometimes called the white-footed mouse, or wood-mouse. It builds a round nest in trees, that looks like a bird's nest, and it lives upon grain, seeds, and nuts.
9. This mouse seems fond of music, and once in a while one sings. Its song is very sweet, somewhat like that of a canary, but not so loud. Mr. Lockwood's singing mouse would keep up its wonderful little song ten minutes without stopping.
rat
1. The rat looks like a very large mouse. It has the same kind of chisel-teeth, sharp claws, and long tail, and it lives very much in the same way as a mouse.
2. It eats all kinds of food, and will live where most other animals would starve. Its teeth are strong, and it can gnaw its way into the hardest nuts, or through thick boards.
3. The claws of the rat are sharp, so that it can run up the side of a house, or up any steep place where its claws will take hold. When atthe bottom of a barrel, or kettle of iron, brass, or tin, it can not climb out.
4. The hind feet of the rat are made in a curious way: they can turn round so that the claws point back. This enables a rat, when it runs down the side of a house, to turn its feet around and hold on, while it goes down head foremost.
5. The tail of the rat is made up of rings, and is covered with scales and very short hair. The rat uses it like a hand to hold himself up and to take hold of things.
6. Rats live in houses and barns, or wherever they can get enough to eat. In cities, they get into drains, and eat up many things which would be harmful if left to decay.
7. They are great pests in the house, running about in the walls, gnawing through the ceilings, and destroying food and clothing.
8. When rats get into a barn, they are very destructive. They eat up grain, and kill young chickens; and they often come in droves, when the pigs are fed, to share the food.
9. Rats increase very fast. Each mother rat produces fifty young ones in a year; and if we did not take great pains to destroy them, they would drive us out of our homes.
grooming
1. Rats are very fond of eggs; but they do not like to be disturbed while eating, and so they contrive to carry the eggs to their nests, where they can enjoy their feast in safety.
2. In carrying off eggs, several rats will often go together. A rat will curl his tail around an egg, and roll it along. Coming to a staircase, they will hand the egg one to another so carefully as not to break it.
3. A lady once watched the rats, which were at work at her egg-basket. One rat lay down onhis back, and took an egg in his arms. The other rats then seized him by the head, and dragged him off, egg and all.
4. Rats can easily be tamed, and even a dog can scarcely love its master better than a rat does when it is treated kindly. Mr. Wood tells this story of some tame rats:
5. "Some young friends of mine have a couple of rats which they have tamed. One, quite white, with pink eyes, is called 'Snow,' and the other, which is white, with a brown head and breast, is named 'Brownie.'
6. "The rats know their names as well as any dog could do, and answer to them quite as readily.
7. "They are not kept shut up in a cage, but are as free to run about the house as if they were dogs or cats.
8. "They have been taught a great number of pretty tricks. They play with their young master and mistress, and run about with them in the garden.
9. "They sit on the table at meal-times, and take anything that is offered to them, holding the food in their fore paws and nibbling it; but never stealing from the plates.
10. "They are very fond of butter, and theywill allow themselves to be hung up by the hind feet and lick a piece of butter from a plate, or a finger.
11. "Sometimes these rats play a funny game. They are placed on the hat-stand in the hall, or put into a hat and left there until their owners go up-stairs.
12. "They wait until they are called, when they scramble down to the floor, gallop across the hall and up the stairs as fast as they can go.
13. "They then hunt until they find their master, climb to his shoulder, and search every pocket for a piece of bread and butter, which they know is there for them.
14. "They are very clean in their ways, and they are always washing their faces and brushing their mouths and fur with their paws, just as cats do.
15. "It is very amusing to see them search the pockets of those they know: diving into them, sniffing at every portion, and climbing out in search of another.
16. "They will not come at the call of a stranger, nor play any of their tricks with him; but they will allow themselves to be stroked and patted, and they never try to bite."
rabbit
1. We here come to the rabbit, one of our innocent and harmless friends that is a great pet with children. It is very timid and easily scared, but when treated kindly it becomes tame.
2. The rabbit is about the size of a cat, and has a short tail. The wild gray rabbit is not so large as the tame rabbit which we have about the house.
3. The rabbit has sharp gnawing-teeth like the rat and mouse, and it gets its food and eats it in the same way.
4. It eats the leaves and stalks of plants, and is very fond of cabbage, lettuce, and the tender leaves of beets and turnips. It sometimes does much damage by gnawing the bark of young fruit-trees.
5. It has whiskers like the cat, so that it can crawl into holes without making a noise.
6. Its fore feet are armed with strong, blunt claws. It can not climb, but it is able to dig holes in the earth.
7. Our wild rabbit lives in the grass, or in holes which it finds in stumps and hollow trees, and among stones; but the English rabbit digs a hole in the soft ground for its home.
8. The holes that the rabbits dig are calledburrows; and where a great many rabbits have burrows close together, the place where they live is called awarren.
9. The burrows have two or more doors, so that if a weasel or some other enemy goes in at one door, the rabbit runs out at the other. In a warren, many burrows open into one another, forming quite a village under ground.
10. The rabbits choose a sandy place for a warren, near a bank, where they can dig easily, and where the water will run off. In these homes they sleep most of the time during the day, and come out by night to feed on such plants as they can find. When wild, the dew gives them drink enough; but when fed with dry grain food, they need water.
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1. The rabbit has large ears, and can hear the slightest sound. When feeding or listening, the ears stand up or lean forward; but when running, the ears lie back on its neck.
2. When the rabbit hears any sound to alarm it, it never stops to see what is the matter, but scuds away to its hole, plunges in, and waits there until it thinks the danger has passed away.
3. Then it comes to the mouth of the burrow, and puts out its long ears. If it does not hear anything, it raises its head a little more, and peepsout. Then, if it does not see anything out of the way, it comes out again and begins to feed.
4. Rabbits increase so fast that if they were not kept down they would soon eat up all the plants of our gardens and fields. So a great many animals and birds feed upon them, and a great many are killed for their meat and fur.
5. When first born, the little rabbits are blind, like puppies and kittens, and their bodies are naked. The mother rabbit makes a warm nest for them of dried leaves, and she lines it with fur from her own body.
6. In about ten or twelve days the little rabbits are able to see, and in a few weeks more they are quite able to take care of themselves.
7. The rabbits that we have for pets are of various colors, but mostly white or black, or part white and part black. They do not dig into the earth as the wild ones do, but they love to have their homes in snug little places, like holes.
8. The hind legs of the rabbit are longer than its fore ones, and, instead of walking, it hops along. When it runs, it springs forward with great leaps, and gets over the ground very fast.
9. Pet rabbits that have large ears sell most readily. One of the rabbits, in the picture, looksvery curious with one long ear lopped down over his eye, and the other standing up straight.
10. When they live out in the woods and fields, rabbits have many cruel foes. One of the worst of these is the owl, who, prowling about in the dark, springs upon the poor rabbit, and breaks its neck with one fierce stroke of its sharp bill.
11. As a rabbit can not defend itself by fighting, it has long ears to detect danger, and swift feet to get away from an enemy. When alarmed, away it goes, with a hop, skip, and jump, and like a flash passes out of sight.
rabbits eating
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1. The hare looks very much like a large rabbit. It has the same kind of teeth, and eats the same kind of food. Its legs are longer than those of the rabbit, and it runs in the same way, only faster.
2. It does not burrow in the ground nor crawl into holes, but it makes its home in tufts of long grass. As it lies in the same place for a long time, it makes a little hollow, which is called itsform.
3. It has larger ears than the rabbit, and seems always listening. It is very timid, and, when it hears any strange sound, away it goes like the wind, running with long leaps.
4. When at rest in its form, it folds its legs under its body, lays its ears back flat on its neck; and, as it is of the color of dried grass, a person may pass by within a few feet of it and not see it.
5. Its upper lip is divided in the middle, as is also that of the rabbit. It sometimes will fight, and then it hits hard blows with its fore feet, and strikes so fast that its blows sound like the roll of a drum.
6. When the snow falls, the hare sits in its form, and is covered up. But its fur keeps it warm, and the heat of its body melts the snow next to its skin, so that it sits in a kind of snow-cave, the snow keeping off the cold wind.
7. When dogs chase a hare, it runs very fast until the dogs are close to it, when it stops suddenly. This it can do, as it runs by leaping with its long hind legs.
8. The dogs can not stop so quickly, and run past. The hare then starts off in another direction, ordoubles, as we say, and so gains upon the dog. In this way it often escapes, and then it goes back to its form.
9. The hare is sometimes tamed, and it soon learns to know its friends; but it is a troublesome pet, as it gnaws the legs of the chairs and tables, and destroys the trees in the yard by gnawing off the bark near the roots.
Would you hear about my bunny,All his little ways so funny?First of all, then, you must know,He has coat as white as snow,Staring eyes of pink so pale,And a tiny, dumpy tail.Once, he had a pretty mate,But she met a cruel fate.Now quite by himself he stays,And contented spends his days.He runs about the nursery floor,The chairs and table clambers o'er,And nestles down upon my lapBeside the cat, to take a nap;And once, when I was in disgrace,He licked the tear-drops from my face.Now, don't you think my little bunnyMust be kind as well as funny?
Would you hear about my bunny,All his little ways so funny?
First of all, then, you must know,He has coat as white as snow,Staring eyes of pink so pale,And a tiny, dumpy tail.
Once, he had a pretty mate,But she met a cruel fate.Now quite by himself he stays,And contented spends his days.
He runs about the nursery floor,The chairs and table clambers o'er,And nestles down upon my lapBeside the cat, to take a nap;
And once, when I was in disgrace,He licked the tear-drops from my face.Now, don't you think my little bunnyMust be kind as well as funny?
squirrels
1. Here comes the squirrel—the little fellow that frisks and gambols so prettily over trees and hedges, and that chatters to us as we take a walk in the woods or fields. He is afraid to let us touch him; but he will let us come quite near, as he knows he can easily get away.
2. As we see him scampering along on the fences or trees, the first thing that we notice is his long bushy tail, which he coils up over his back.
3. But we will find one in a cage, and then we will take a closer look. We find that he haschisel-teeth, like the rat and rabbit, and then we know that Mr. Squirrel eats something that he must gnaw.
4. His toes are not strong, like those of the rat or rabbit, but they are long and slender, and we know that he does not dig holes in the ground. The nails are not strong enough to catch prey, but are long, thin, sharp, and bent at their tips.
5. Then we find that the squirrel can turn all his toes around so that the nails point backward, and we see that he is made for running up and down trees, where he has his home.
6. Now we see what he does with his sharp cutting-teeth. He lives upon nuts, and his teeth are for gnawing through the hard shell, to get at the kernel inside.
7. The ears of the squirrel are of moderate size. The rabbit and hare live upon the ground, and, if they did not have large ears and sharp hearing, they would be killed by dogs and other enemies. But the squirrel has his home in trees, out of reach of animals that can not climb; so it does not need such sharp hearing to save itself.
8. When in his home in the trees, the squirrel feels safe; so he curls his tail over his body and head to keep warm, and goes to sleep.
squirrels climbing
1. As the squirrel is made to climb trees and live on nuts, he builds his nest there, and makes the tree his home. He finds some hollow place in the tree, or he builds where some large limb branches off, so that his nest can not well be seen from below.
2. His nest is made of dried leaves and bits of moss. His summer home is high up on the tree, where he has plenty at air; but his winter nest is as snug in some hole as he can make it.
3. In the fall, the squirrel gathers nuts and corn, and stores them up near his winter nest. Then, when cold weather comes on, he crawls into his bed of leaves, curls up, and goes to sleep.
4. Now and then, in the winter, he wakes, crawls to his store and has a dinner, and then goes to sleep again. When the warm days of spring come on, he wakes up fully, and is ready for his summer's work and play.
5. When the squirrel eats a nut, he takes it in his paws, sits up straight, with his tail curled over his back, and nips off the shell in little bites, turning it about as easily as we could with our hands.
6. The squirrels that we see most often are the little chattering red squirrel, and the gray squirrel, which is about twice as large. In the West and South, a large squirrel, that is partly red and partly gray, is called a fox-squirrel. All these squirrels have fine little rounded ears, and large eyes, so placed that they can look all around.
7. The English squirrel is most like our red squirrel. It is of the same color, but a little larger, and has pointed ears, with a long tuft of hair standing up from the top.
8. The teeth of the squirrel grow, and he wears them off by gnawing nuts. If, when not in his winter's sleep, he should stop gnawing something hard for a week or two, his teeth would become so long that he could not use them again.