Courage by Ernest Thompson Seton
This is one in an ongoing series of nature essays from Lives of Game Animals (1925-1928) by Ernest Thompson Seton. I have watched them act aggressively towards dogs. Running and jumping from tree to tree, coming down broad trunks headfirst while remaining just out of reach of leaping wildly barking dogs. I have never seen a dog come even close to catching one of these little guys.
The Case/Vol IV pg. 168
“If you go before the Arizona Legislature with a plea for this Chickaree, you are on a hopeless quest; at least, you are if you make an economic appeal. For the members say he is no use to agriculture, and the little good he does by planting trees, is offset by his destruction of cones and birds’ nests.
But go to the children of these men, and you have a better chance. In Chickaree, they see embodied the joyous spirit of wild life in the woods; he is full of vivacity and tireless energy. They would not be without him in the summer camp for many tons of beef and flour. He is a fun-maker. They love him and appraise him far above material things outside their world.
Maybe in these things, the children are wiser than their elders. At any rate, they have influence; and moreover, they have a majority. So Chickaree – the mischief-making Chickaree – is safe.”