7831 Chipmunk or Striped Squirrel

The chipmunk is the smallest squirrel we know. He has black and light yellow stripes on his back. The rest of his coat is light brown. He has a much smaller tail than his squirrel cousins. Like them, he loves seeds and nuts of all kinds.

The chipmunk lives in stony rocky places. He only climbs trees when he has to. He likes the ground best. He makes his home down under the ground. He digs out a cozy bedroom deep down where the frost cannot reach him. He also digs out one or two storerooms for food. He makes tunnels from room to room.

It would be hard to find a chipmunk’s home. He carries away every bit of sand he digs out. Would you like to know how he does it? He has two very handy pockets. They are inside his checks. He uses them to carry all kinds of things.

Sometimes he has his pockets so full that his head looks three times as big as it really is. The chipmunk would tell you that his cheek pockets save him many steps. He stuffs them with seeds and nuts to take to his storeroom.

Copyright The Keystone View Co.

W4024 A Polar Bear

This is a great big polar bear. This bear is very, very, tall. See how big the bear is compared with the big rocks in the picture.

This bear came from a very cold country near the North Pole. Why is it called a “polar bear”?

This bear loves to swim. Up in the cold north it stayed in a snow cave all winter with its mother, when it was little, sound asleep. But in warmer weather it swam in the icy water. When polar bears grow tired, they climb up on a big piece of ice to rest. What did the zoo give this polar bear because it likes to swim?

Men give this bear its food. How do bears near the North Pole get food? They like to eat seals and fish. Do you see how they could catch fish?

Polar bears are good fighters, too. They are very, very strong. Do you see what big paws they have? The can hit hard with those paws. They can hit so hard that they can kill other animals and people, too.

A mother bear will not let anything come near her baby. She will kill anything that tries to hurt her baby. Why?

Tell two ways in which the mother bear could protect her baby?

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23087 Buffalo Herd, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

When your great-grandfather was a little boy there were no railroads across our country. People traveled in big covered wagons drawn by oxen. Often when they were traveling in their wagons across the western plains they were stopped by great herds of buffaloes such as you see in the picture.

When the buffaloes swam across the river, steamboats had to stop and wait until they had passed. There were no towns or cities on the western plains then, and the buffaloes roamed all over, feeding where the grass was best.

The Indians killed the buffaloes for hides and also for food. The first settlers also killed buffaloes for meat and for skins to use as robes. Buffaloes were killed off so fast that they almost entirely destroyed. To keep them from become extinct the United States Government took those that were left and kept them in Yellowstone National Park. No one is allowed to shoot them.

Copyright The Keystone View Co.

7832 Beavers and Their Home

The beaver cannot be called lazy. He is a busy little fellow. He is the best builder among animals.

Beavers love the water and are always found living close to it. Their homes must also be near a woods. They get most of their food from trees. With their strong teeth they chew the bark, branches, roots and leaves. This makes the walls of the lodge thick and strong. No water can get in. The door of the house is under water.

The beavers also build dams. The dams help to make the water deep around the lodge. If the water is deep enough it will not freeze in winter. Why is that a good thing?

The beavers cut down trees to make the dams. They use branches, bark, mud and stones to make a dam. Many of them work together.

When the white people first came to our country beavers could be found in many places. But the hunters and trappers caught many of them. They could get much money for beaver skins. The fur is soft and thick. It is still used to make fine fur coats and hats.

Copyright The Keystone View Co.

7814 Reynard the Fox

No animal that lives in the woods is handsomer than the fox. If you are lucky enough to see him in winter you will think so, too. His fur is long and reddish-sometimes with a white spot on his chest. His tail is bushy and has a white tip.

Perhaps his home is in a burrow in the ground. Here the baby foxes are born. The mother cat cares for her kittens until they are old enough to look out for themselves. The burrow makes a snug warm nest for the cold winter. Some animals which live in burrows sleep all winter. The fox does not. Instead he goes prowling about the woods hunting for food. You can find his tracks where there is snow.

Summer and winter he must hunt for his food and in summer he must help feed his little ones. He eats any small animal he can catch. He is perfectly willing to eat a bird for his dessert if he has a chance. He watches for the farmer’s turkeys. Sometimes he visits the farmer’s henyards in the daytime. Sometimes he gets into the henhouses at night. Do you wonder that farmers do not like foxes. If poor Reynard could sleep all winter as the woodchuck does, he would do only half as much harm.

Copyright The Keystone View Co.