ANIMAL TRAINING.
[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."]
SIR,—Adverting to an interesting article in your issue of January 28th which dealt with the subject of "animal training," it may be of further interest to some of your readers to know that, not only do the squirrels here " hang upside down from an inverted cocoanut which is put out for the tits," but, in order to reach it, they climb along a thin iron wire about sixteen feet long, from the middle point of which the cocoanut is suspended by another wire. Unlike the famous Blondin, however, these tight-rope performances are carried on upside down, the squirrel proceeding hand over hand as far as the suspending wire, on which be then slides down to the cocoanut below. If the cocoanut is hung by a string, the squirrel will sit on the wire above and haul it on to its perch by the front feet or bands. All this takes place within three or four feet of a large bay window, from which the gymnastics of these fascinating little animals are eagerly watched—I am, Sir, &c., LovED.av E. DRAKE. The Cottage, Mold, North Wales.
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