Wild Creatures in Winter

CHAPTER 11

DID you ever awaken some morning in the fall and see the Merry Little Snowflakes coming softly down for the first time that year? Of course you have. And that is just what Bud and Mary Smith did on the Old Homestead.

For two days the Gray Cloud Ships had been sailing over with their loads of Fleecy Snow, and at last they had decided to empty some out. And there it was sifting down as quietly as anything when Bud and Mary looked out one morning. Already the Soft White Blanket was up to their shoe tops.

"Oh, what fun we shall have at school to-day!" exclaimed Mary, when they were ready to start. "We can play Fox and Geese and make Snow Angels and build Snow Men and everything."

"Yes, and when we get home we can go coasting on the Long Hill," said Bud.

"Let us play Follow the Leader on the way to school this morning," suggested Mary; "you go first, and I will follow."

And away they went down the road toward school, with Bud breaking a path.

But Bud and Mary and the other children were not the only ones who were having a fine time in the Fleecy Snow. No, sir. There were Junco the Snowbird and Snowy the Bunting. It was just the kind of day they both liked, and they were having heaps of fun flying across the field with their friends and alighting on the Fleecy Snow.

You see, both Junco the Snowbird and Snowy the Bunting like company, and they always have ten or twenty friends with them. Perhaps you will wonder where they could find anything to eat when the Fleecy Snow was so deep; but it was no trick at all for them. They could always find Tall Weed Stalks sticking up through the Fleecy Snow on which they could alight and make a good meal of the Tiny Seeds.

Junco the Snowbird lived on the Old Homestead part of the time, but sometimes he went for a visit farther south if the Wintry Weather became too cold. But Snowy the Bunting was entirely different; he never saw the Old Homestead except in Wintry Weather, and some years he did not visit it at all. Snowy the Bunting's real home was in the Far-Far North in the Land of Ice, where Arctic the White Fox and Ovibos the Musk Ox lived. That was where Snowy the Bunting lived much of the time. But sometimes, while many of the Feathered Friends from the Old Homestead were playing in the Sunny Southland, Snowy would come down to the Old Homestead for a visit. He liked a change, you know.

It must have seemed to Snowy almost like going to the Sunny Southland to visit the Old Homestead after living in the Land of Ice. And so Snowy the Bunting always had a fine time.

"We must be going to have a hard winter," said Mr. Smith to Mrs. Smith; "because Snowy the Bunting is with us already."

And no doubt that is just what the Furry Friends thought. My, but how they did hurry around when the Merry Little Snowflakes began to fall)

Growler the Bear had finished his Warm Dark Cave under the roots of the Tired Tree and was in the Big Jungle Thicket looking for some Dried Berries to eat when the Fleecy Snow started to fall in the night.

"I believe I will just go home and go to bed," he said to himself.

And away went Growler through the Blackberry Brambles and Twining Vines toward his Warm Dark Cave. Soon he was curled up as comfortable as anything. For a while Growler could not seem to go to sleep. He was restless and took only little naps, and growled as if he were having a bad dream. But after a few days, if you had looked into Growler's Warm Dark Cave, you would have seen him sound asleep. The Merry Little Snowflakes covered Growler's doorway with a Soft White Blanket, and there he slept until Jolly Spring came back and awakened him.

But Growler the Bear was not the only one who had gone to bed when the Merry Little Snowflakes came dancing down. Tawny Chipmunk and Johnny Chuck were already snoring in their Snug

Beds, and so was Dodger the Gopher. Billy Coon was looking for something to eat down along Little River. He didn't find very much, so he went home to his Hollow Den Tree, which stood near the bridge that crossed Little River. He thought he would sleep at least awhile, until the storm was over.

Digger the Badger had made a Deep Burrow, and in it he went to sleep just as Growler the Bear had done. Digger's legs were very short, and he did not like to plod through deep Fleecy White Snow because his stomach had to drag in it.

Virginia Opossum went into her Warm Hollow Log in the Woodlot and curled up for a nap. And, of course, Mephitis and his large family were sound asleep with their noses almost touching in the middle of their new Hidden Den. Even Forktongue the Snake and the Wiggly Earth Worms had crawled deep into the Soft Warm Earth and gone to sleep.

There surely were a lot of sleepyheads on the Old Homestead, but there were also many Wild Creatures that were wide-awake. Downy the Woodpecker and his cousin Redhead were just as busy as usual looking for Tree Borers, and so was their large cousin Judge Flicker. Dandy the Chickadee and his cousin Whitebreast the Nuthatch were running a race to see who could find the greater number of Tree Grubs; and Timid the Kinglet flitted about, saying, "I told you Old Man Winter was coming."

And then there was Shadow the Lynx, who was trying to catch Snowshoe the Hare in the Fleecy, Snow; and there were Molly and Peter Cottontail, who were hopping around in the shelter of their Little Jungle Thicket. Pesty the Magpie and his undesirable cousins Tattler the Jay and Jim Crow were out looking to see what mischief they could find to get into. Wasn't it strange how Old Man Winter could put some of the Wild Creatures to sleep and make others work harder than ever?

YOU will remember that when the Wintry Weather came, Snowshoe the Hare put on a nice white coat. That is exactly what Snoop the Weasel did also. During the Balmy Summer Days Snoop wore a brown coat, but when the Cold-Cold Days came, he changed it for white.

You see, if Snoop wore a brown coat during Wintry Weather, every one could see him when he ran about on the Fleecy Snow. His enemies would see him and catch him. And if Snoop were hunting in a brown coat, every one would see him coming and run away.

Snoop had been wearing his new white coat just a little while when the first Fleecy Snow came. His brown one had gradually dropped off, and the white one had grown in its place.

So Snoop was glad to see the Fleecy Snow, for then his-coat matched it. Before the Fleecy Snow came, he had been running around among the Dead Grass and Brown Leaflets in his white coat, and that was almost as bad as running around in a brown coat on the Fleecy Snow.

"I believe I will go a-hunting," said Snoop the Weasel, when he came out of his Friendly Burrow and saw all that Fleecy Snow falling.

Snoop hunted in the daytime as well as at night, although he really would rather hunt at night. This time when Snoop made up his mind to go a-hunting it was morning. Snoop thought that if he went a-hunting in the morning, he would find more of the Little Wild Creatures at home, and then he could pounce upon them. And he also thought that Great Horn the Owl and some of his own Enemies would be hiding and would not catch him. So Snoop started out in the Fleecy Snow. First he went to the Rustling Cornfield. He thought he might be lucky enough to find Tiny the Meadow Mouse eating the Tempting Kernels away from the shelter of a Friendly Burrow.

"Sniff, sniff," went Snoop the Weasel; "I smell Tiny hiding in this Rustling Corn Shock."

Now it happened that Tiny was sitting just out of sight eating Tempting Kernels when Snoop stopped by that Rustling Corn Shock.

"I must run and hide," thought Tiny, and away he ran to his Soft Little Bed in his Friendly Burrow under the Rustling Corn Shock. And so when Snoop slipped into the Rustling Corn Shock, Tiny was nowhere to be seen.

"Sniff, sniff," went Snoop, and soon he had found Tiny's Friendly Burrow. "I don't believe Tiny is worth digging after," said he, and he went to look for something else.

Snoop really was not much of a digger anyway, for his little feet were covered with hair and his toenails were not large enough to dig well.

From the Rustling Cornfield Snoop went to the Woodlot. He thought he might find Hungarian the Partridge hiding under one of the Stubby Little Bushes. But Hungarian the Partridge was over in the Fence Row picking the Tempting Kernels from Wild Sunflowers.

"Now I wonder where I should go next," thought Snoop. "I believe I will visit the Hedgerow, and perhaps I can catch one of Bobby White's family."

Over by the Hedgerow Bobby White and his family were wondering where they could find something to eat themselves.

"Let us fly over to the Rustling Cornfield and pick some Tempting Kernels from the Rustling Corn Shocks," said Bobby.

You see, the Soft White Blanket had covered almost everything that Bobby could eat at the Hedgerow. And so away they flew to the Rustling Cornfield just before Snoop the Weasel came looking for Tiny the Meadow Mouse.

"Well, well, I see that Bobby and his family have gone," said Snoop, for he could see Scratchy Little Tracks in the Fleecy Snow where Bobby had been. "Now I wonder if Molly Cottontail is in her Friendly Burrow in the Little Jungle Thicket. I'll just go over there and catch her before she can get out of her Friendly Burrow."

Down along the Hedgerow went Snoop the Weasel, sniffing into every hole and under every Stubby Little Bush that he passed. Snoop wanted to go over to Farmer Smith's Chicken House, but he was afraid that Nero the Hound might see him. How good those chickens smelled! And there was the Granary, where Whiskers the Mouse and his friends liked to play when Spot the Skunk left them alone.

Spot the Skunk was a small cousin of Mephitis the Skunk's, and he lived under the Granary most of the time. In fact, he was asleep under the Granary right then; but Snoop did not know it.

"I do hope that Molly is at home," said Snoop the Weasel.

When Snoop arrived at the Little Jungle Thicket, there was Nero digging in Molly's Friendly Burrow as hard as he could. It was not a very nice thing for Nero the Hound to do, but all of us do things that are not very nice sometimes.

Of course, Nero could never dig deep enough to catch Molly, for he would have to make too large a hole before he could crawl in. But Nero liked to dig, anyway. Perhaps that was his way of getting warm.

"I'll just run right along to my own Friendly Burrow before Nero sees me," said Snoop the Weasel to himself. And away he hopped, leaving a Crooked Little Trail in the Fleecy Snow.

Dynamic Drive.