Squirrels（松鼠）are getting ready for winter. They are looking for nuts and seeds, digging holes in the ground or finding holes in trees. That’s where they store the food they will need during the coming months, when the weather is cold and sometimes snowy. Squirrels spend a lot of time in trees, which are like restaurants for them. Among their favorite things to eat are nuts and other parts of trees, like tender buds（花苞）. Squirrels may also eat corn, insects and other animals. And, as anyone who has a bird knows, squirrels love bird food! Squirrels stay active all winter, so they need plenty of food to help keep up their energy. Squirrels tend to bury food underground, piece by piece. Some squirrels may gather food into piles that they put at the base of trees or bury underground. When they need the food, squirrels use their memories and sense of smell to help them find what they buried. Sometimes, you’ll even see them digging through the snow. Squirrels make nests in trees. Some squirrels spend much of the winter in underground tunnels（地道）, where it is warmer. When spring comes, squirrels change their eating habits to new plant growth, like buds and leaves. Sometimes they forget to dig up all their buried nuts. That’s why you’ll sometimes find a little tree growing in a place where neither you nor your family planted it. It must have been the squirrels’.

Many animals hide to stay alive. They hide in many ways. Some animals hide in trees; 【小题1】 Usually their colors help them to stay alive. Chameleons can hide by changing colors. 【小题2】 Some chameleons can change colors in five minutes. Wild rabbits always have the same color as the things around them, so it’s hard to find them. Other animals can’t eat them easily.

Some animals try to stay around other animals. 【小题5】 Some birds stay in a circle, each toward a different direction. In this way, they can also help each other stay alive.

For a long time, scientists believed that only humans were left-or right-handed. However, recent studies have shown that this isn’t true. Just like people, animals favor one side or the other.

In Ireland, scientists studied a group of 42 cats. They gave them three tasks. One was to get a delicious piece of fish out of a bottle. They found that the male cats preferred to use their left paw, and the female cats preferred to use their rights.

Being left-or right-handed isn't limited (有限的) to arms and legs. It can include eyes, ears, claws, and even tails. In Italy, scientists discovered that dogs wag their tails to the right when they see something that they like. When they see something that they don’t like, their tails go to the left.

There are lots of fun examples. Left-handed dolphins swim in a different direction around the pool. Elephants like to swing their trunks in one direction. Even snakes prefer to curl up only one way.

Many people believe that polar bears are left-handed. They say, for example, that polar bears cover their black nose with their right paw, which helps them hide in the snow when they are hunting. Then they can sneak up(慢慢靠近) on a seal, and their left paw will be free to catch it.

Scientists, however, disagree. Some have watched polar bears for thousands of hours. They never saw the bears cover their nose during a hunt. They also saw no evidence(根据) that they were left-handed. Without taking any notice of this, many websites continue to say that polar bears are left-handed.

Scientists are still learning about animals and their behaviors. The next time you see an animal, whether it’s your pet cat or an elephant, try figuring out yourself which it prefers - left or right.