Whisker

“ Leisurely approaching the object of attack, lulling the suspicions of a dull-witted sentinel or patrol by stopping now to cull a leaf, now to wash a whisker, the well-trained rabbit would have no difficulty in creeping to within striking distance. ”

“ Wilkins heard me out with admirable patience, although he pulled at his beard with nervous fingers as if eager to test his own share of hirsute harmony. When I paused he asked me if I could "tune up a few bass or tenor whiskers and give him some action."
I moved over to my switchboard and halted only to tell him that the length and texture of the whisker determine the number of sound waves and therefore the vibratory pitch or note. "False whiskers will do for experiments," I added, "but they lack a certain fullness of tone which, I am sure, must be found in the living growth." ”

“ The smaller species was very familiar, and used to run over people with perfect freedom. A favourite place of refuge was under his whisker, and between it and his shirt collar.” According to the same correspondent, the little ones breed in captivity, but never grow more than about three or four inches long in the body; the larger kind, he says, within a year grow to six or seven inches long, or equal to a big Rat. Their voices differ, the larger animal’s tone being lugubrious. ”

“ Characters.—Face nude, prolonged forwards; muzzle prominent; superciliary ridges overhanging the eyes; eyebrows meeting in the mid-line; a bar over the eyes across the forehead bald, except for a few very short hairs; fur in general, long, soft, silky, and thick; short hairs forming a sort of whisker on the cheeks, continuous with the hair on the head and the moderately long beard; abdomen, chest, and inner surface of limbs thinly haired; ears large and, except on the margins, covered with long silky hairs ”

“ The whiskers are very numerous, the longest slightly exceeding the head; the uppermost behind being black, all the rest white; all are mixed at the base with long hairs, which cover the side of the nose; soles of the fore-feet with scattered white hairs, but nearly naked; those of the hind-feet densely covered with hair everywhere except at the extreme tips of the toes and at the heel. ”

“ A Tiger’s skin with its whiskers preserved is a rarity; you cannot keep them. The domestic, who would preserve any other valuable as a most sacred trust, will fail under this temptation! The whiskers, besides other wonderful powers, are said to possess that of being a slow poison when administered with the food. Such is the belief, which you may try in vain to disturb! The clavicles, too—little curved bones like tiny ribs—are also much valued; but they are generally lost or overlooked when the Tiger is cut up, lying buried in the powerful muscles near the shoulders. ”

“ Whiskers, as he trotted along the country road. "Lady Spider does not seem to be a harmful creature. Hello! Here I am at Squire Cricket's gateway. I must cure his sore throat."
Squire Cricket came to the door. He wore a red flannel around his neck and his voice was hoarse as he greeted Dr. Whiskers.
"Nimble-toes said you needed some medicine," began Dr. Whiskers. "I see you are wearing the red flannel that Granny sent. She believes that red flannel will cure almost anything."
"It's no good," croaked Squire Cricket. ”

“ The whiskers, which are white, are both long and thick. They are often shot out, so as to project almost straight forwards, and then brought back to their usual position, where they droop parallel with the line of the head and throat. ”

“ They bite severely, and do not hesitate to make towards their enemies or assailants with open mouth, squealing like a rat. When they fight among themselves they make great use of the nose in the manner of hogs. They cannot travel faster than the slow walk of a man. They feed frequently while seated on the rump, using their fore paws and long claws somewhat like a squirrel. When sleeping they place the head beneath the breast, and become round, and look like a ball of earth. They clean their whiskers and body in the manner of Rats, Squirrels, etc. ”

“ Whiskers are placed in four points on each Side near the nose and on the jaws near the opening of the mouth. the ears are very Short wide and appressed as if they had been cut off. the appertue through them to the head is remarkably Small; the tail is about 4 inches long; the hair longest on it at it's junction, with the body and becomeing Shorter towards it's extremity where it ends in an accute point. the hairs of the body are much longer on the Sides and rump than any other part, which givs the body an appearent flatness, particularly when the animal rests on it's belly. ”

“ Whiskerandos! Whiskerandos!” thought I, as, almost rooted to the spot with horror, I stood gazing on the pitiful sight. “I am glad that you are dead! oh, I am glad that you are dead! bravest, noblest of rats, they can torture you no more!”
The dogs showed by their impatient movements that they considered that their master took a great deal too much time in his survey of a lifeless rat I suspect that he only did so to tease and tantalize them, for suddenly raising Whiskerandos still higher, to give more force to his fling, he cried, “Now Carlo—Rover—Cæsar—who’s first!” ”

“ His poor dog stayed on the roof of the shed all night, much too frightened to attempt to get down.
When the Whiskers family was all together once again, Judy [106] said, “And what do you think, mama, the old naughty butcher said as he leaned over the pen and looked at us before he went in for his supper? ‘You are two pretty fine looking kids, and if I was not so tired and it was not so dark, I would butcher you to-night and sell your nice fat tender little chops in the morning. But I guess I will wait until it is light to-morrow and then kill you before anyone comes around looking for you. ”

“ My house is in a little grove of oak trees.
Every winter I feed several gray squirrels with nuts.
Every day about noon a big father squirrel comes and scratches on my kitchen window.
There he sits on the sill, watching with bright eyes until I open the window and throw out some nuts.
The more timid squirrels are seated on the ground looking up at the window. They catch the nuts and scamper away with them up to the tops of the trees. But not Furry. He takes nuts from my hands, and holding them in his little finger-claws, gnaws away the shell faster [81] than I can count ten. ”

“ From its perch it watches for its prey, but is by no means a motionless and depressed-looking watcher, like the flycatcher: its movements on its stand, as it turns its head from side to side and jerks and fans its tail, frequently uttering its low, percussive, chat-like chirp or call-note, give the impression of a creature keenly alive to everything passing around it. The shrike is, in fact, attentively watching air, earth, and the surrounding herbage and bushes for a victim, which he captures by a sudden dart, taking it by surprise. ”

“ I have read letters that little boys have written for your paper, and thought I would like to write and tell them about my pet squirrel. Its name is Shell-bark. I named it that because it eats so many nuts. My papa and I were in the woods one day, and saw a little squirrel pop its head out of a hole, so we threw a handkerchief over the hole, and caught it. It is very tame now, but it has had a sore nose from trying to get out of its cage, and the only way I could get to grease it was by giving him a shell-bark, and when he poked his nose out to get it, I greased it with cold cream. ”

“ As he stood motionless, his heavy eyes cast upon the ground, and his knit brow shaded in gloom, a squirrel sprang from the covert upon a decayed branch directly before him, as the sprightly animal stood, with his fearless innocent eyes, glancing around, the miserable man gnashed his teeth, and in the impotence of his rage that any living thing should be happy, aimed a blow, which the active animal eluded, the next instant standing upon the topmost bough of a lofty tree, chattering in his joyous glee. ”

“ When it is time to husk the corn, every farmer's boy must have seen a shrike sitting on a fence-rail or hovering in the air ready to seize the little meadow mice that escape from the shocks.
It is sad to record that sometimes shrikes also sneak upon their prey. When they resort to this mean method of securing a dinner they leave the high perches and secrete themselves in clumps of bushes in the open field. Luring little birds within striking distance by imitating their call notes, they pounce upon a terror-stricken sparrow before you could say "Jack Robinson." ”

“ In other provinces every body that kills squirrels, received twopence a piece for them from the public, on delivering the heads. Their flesh is eaten and reckoned a dainty. The skins are sold, but are not much esteemed. Squirrels are the chief food of the rattle-snake and other snakes, and it was a common fancy with the people hereabouts, that when the rattle snake lay on the ground, and fixed its eyes upon a squirrel, the latter would be as it were fascinated, and that though it were on the uppermost branches of a tree, yet it would come down by degrees, till it leaped into the snake’s mouth. ”

“ But the black squirrel, now among the branches of an elm, is twitching from one rigid attitude to another, electrified by the crisp atmosphere and the inspiration of the snow. Again he is leaping over the white surface to clamber up the repellent bark of a tall hickory. Among the larger limbs he disappears. As he never attempts to hide, he must have retired into his own dwelling to partake of the store laid by in the season of plenty. Hickory nuts are his favourite food, and the hard shells seem but an appetizing relish. ”

“ When a weasel is attacking an animal which resists, like a large ground squirrel, it raises its head and sways its long neck back and forth, its eyes glittering with excitement as it watches for an opening to spring forward and seize its prey. ”

“ Yet three days inside it had been more than sufficient for the squirrel. He was cold, hungry, and cramped in every limb. To quicken the blood within him, he flung himself at lightning speed from bough to bough, from tree to tree, up and down the branches, in and out the maze of dripping foliage, until his every hair was tipped with a raindrop, and he was almost weary. Then he paused a moment for breath and shook himself, dog-fashion.
The mole’s uneasy, crimson-pointed muzzle came from a hole right on the water’s edge. He was feeling for the water. ”

“ Judge of my surprise, when I perceived that the ball had hit the piece of the bark immediately beneath the squirrel, and shivered it into splinters, the concussion produced by which had killed the animal, and sent it whirling through the air, as if it had been blown up by the explosion of a powder magazine. Boon kept up his firing, and, before many hours had elapsed, we had procured as many squirrels as we wished; for you must know, kind reader, that to load a rifle requires only a moment, and that if it is wiped once after each shot, it will do duty for hours. ”

“ Just as the tree was ready to fall, and was wavering to and fro, the squirrel, that had kept on the topmost bough, sprang nimbly to the next tree, and then to another, and by the time the great pine had reached the ground, the squirrel was far away in his nest among his little ones, safe from hunters, guns, and dogs."
"The black squirrel must have wondered, I think, nurse, why so many men and dogs tried to kill such a little creature as he was. Do the black squirrels sleep in the winter as well as the flying squirrels and chitmunks?" ”

“ Lady Mary clapped her hands with joy, and said, "I am so glad, nurse, that the chitmunk ran back to his old friend. I wish it had bitten that Yankee pedlar's fingers."
"When angry, these creatures will bite very sharply, set up their tails, and run to and fro, and make a chattering sound with their teeth. The red squirrel is very fearless for its size, and will sometimes turn round and face you, set up its tail, and scold. ”

“ If a squirrel in the spring is face to face with a famine, he might be tempted to kill and eat young birds. I have no record against the red squirrel, after eighteen years' observation here on the Cape. In Maine for fifteen years I saw squirrels plentiful enough on my farm. A small fruit orchard, near the farm buildings, usually harbored several squirrels. Birds nested in the trees and reared their young unless a coon cat got them before they could fly. I never knew a squirrel to molest a birds' nest, and the - 248 - farmers of that town never complained of them, so far as I know. ”

“ He sails through them a few yards above the ground, and suddenly alights on the low branch of a tree, or the top of a dead stump, from which he silently watches, in an erect posture, for the appearance of squirrels, upon which he pounces directly and kills them in an instant, afterwards devouring them on the ground. If accidentally discovered, he essays to remove the squirrel, but finding this difficult, he drags it partly through the air and partly along the ground, to some short distance, until he conceives himself out of sight of the intruder, when he again commences feeding. ”

“ It is their misfortune that many keepers look upon them as a convenient form of ferret-food. We have found a freshly killed squirrel, apparently the victim of a bird of prey, beneath a spruce fir, from which a barn owl flew as we examined the body; no doubt owls would take a chance to attack a squirrel. As to what squirrels kill there is little evidence. We have known a squirrel to do away with part of a brood of tits in an apple-tree, and one which visited a pheasant's nest, carrying away an egg, and once we saw a young- 28 - pheasant in a squirrel's mouth ”

“ I am making my life wretched with two little striped squirrels. The squirrels here are nearly white, with four black stripes down their backs, and striped tails. I have got two young ones, meaning to tame them, but they are evidently deficient in intellect—perfect ninnies, so unlike my dear flying squirrel at Simla. They are quite tame one minute and then run half over the house with all the servants after them, and it is too hot for those tricks. ”