Chapter 96 Beasts of Winter - 2

It is usually the red squirrel (Sciurus Hudsonius) that wakes me at dawn, running over the roof ridges, and climbing up and down the sides of the house, as if they had come out of the forest for this purpose.In the winter I threw about half a bushel of unripe ears of corn over the snow at the door, and observed with great interest the mannerisms of the various animals which had been baited.In the dusk and night, the rabbits often come to have a full meal.The red squirrels come and go throughout the day, and their agility especially amuses me.A red squirrel began to cautiously pass through the bushes of scrub oak, running stop-and-go across the snow, like a leaf being blown by the wind; at once it ran a few steps in this direction, at an astonishing speed, The energy is also exhausted too much. It runs in a "running" posture, which is unimaginably fast, as if it has come to make a desperate move. It also runs a few steps in that direction for a while, but each time it does not exceed half a step. and then suddenly made a funny face and stopped, and turned a somersault for no reason, as if the eyes of the whole universe were on it,—for the actions of a squirrel, even in the deepest and loneliest forest Like a dancer, there always seems to be an audience—it drags on, going in circles, wasting more time, and if it goes in a straight line, it will finish the whole journey sooner—I never saw a A squirrel can walk by with poise,—and then, suddenly, in an instant, it is already on top of a young pine, unwinding its clockwork, scolding all imaginary audiences, and as if monologue, at the same time It also seems to be speaking to the whole universe. I can't guess the reason for this at all, and I think it may not be able to tell the reason itself.Finally, it came to the corn, picked an ear of corn, and jumped back and forth in the irregular triangular route, and jumped to the highest peak of the pile of wood piled up in front of my window, where it watched from the front. and sat there for hours, looking for new ears of corn from time to time, at first it was greedy and threw away the half-naked cobs; later it became more spirited, took its food to play, It only ate a single grain of corn, and the ear of corn it held up with one front paw accidentally fell to the ground, so it made a funny expression of uncertainty, looked down at the ear of corn, as if it was Doubting whether the ear of corn is alive, decides whether to pick it up, or fetch another one, or simply go away; at one moment it wants to look at the ear of corn, and at another moment it listens to the sound in the wind.And so it was, the brusque creature spoiled several ears of corn all morning; till at last he snatched up the longest and largest one, much larger than himself, and carried it back deftly, back to the woods, It's like a tiger carrying a buffalo on its back, but it still walks zigzagging, stopping and walking, working hard. It seems that the ear of corn is too heavy and keeps falling, which makes Wang Misui in between The state of the diagonal between the vertical and the horizon, determined to carry it to its destination;--a fellow so light and half-hearted as seldom; It went to the top of a pine tree forty or fifty rods away, and I could always see afterwards that the cob was thrown here and there in the forest.

At last the jays came, their discordant voices had long been heard as they approached discreetly an eighth of a mile away, darting furtively from tree to tree, getting closer and closer as they went. Picked up some kernels of corn dropped by the squirrels.Then, sitting on a pine branch, they tried to swallow the corn quickly, but it was too big and stuck in their throats, choking their breath; The squirrels howled and pecked at their beaks, trying to pierce them, obviously a bunch of thieves, and I don't respect them very much; but the squirrels, though a little shy at first, then went about their business as honestly as if they were their own.

At the same time flocks of chickadees flew up, picked up the crumbs dropped by the squirrels, flew to the nearest twig, held the crumbs with their paws, and pecked them with their small beaks, as if these were one of the bark Little bugs, pecking until the crumbs are small enough to swallow in their thin throats.A small flock of these tits come every day to feast on my wood-pile, or the crumbs in front of my door, with a faint, rapid tongue-cracking call, like icicles in the grass, to Otherwise, they would call "Dai, Dai, Dai" vigorously, especially in spring-like days, they made a summery "Phoebe" sound like strings from the side of the forest.They became so familiar with me that at last one of the chickadees flew to the log I carried into the house under my arm, and pecked at the twigs without fear.Once, when I was hoeing in the village garden, a sparrow flew and landed on my shoulder, and stayed there for a while. At that time, I felt that wearing any epaulets would not be as honorable as this time.Later, the squirrel also got to know me very well, and when it happened to take a shortcut, it would also step on my instep.