HOW SQUIRRELS PLANT OAK TREES.

Lake County Press, Issue 1065, 21 May 1903, Page 3

HOW SQUIRRELS PLANT OAK TREES.

It is a curious circumstance, and I not generally known, that most of j those oak trees which are said to have grown spontaneously are planted by the squirrel. This little animal has performed i the most essential service to the British Navy. A gentleman walking one afternoon through the woods of an estate in the neighbourhood had his attention diverted by a squirrel, which sat very composedly upon the ground. He stopped to observe its motions. Tn a few moments the squirrel darted to the top of a tree, beneath which he had been sitting. In an instant he was down with an acorn in his mouth, and after digging a small hole, he stooped down and deposited a small acorn ; then, covering it he darted up the tree again. In a moment he was down again with another, which he buried in the same manner. This he continued to do as long as the observer thought proper to watch him. The industry of this little creature is directed to the purpose of securing him against want in winter, and it is probable that his memory is not sufficiently retentive to enable him to remember the spot in which he deposits every acorn. The industrious little fellow, no doubt, loses a few every year ; these spring up, and are destined to supply the place of the parent tree. Thus is Britain, in some measure, indebted to the industry and bad memory of the squirrel for her pride, her glory, and her high position among the nations. •>,.