Walden: Winter Animals Summary & Analysis

In the winter, Thoreau hears a host of animals around his house: the hooting owl, whose sad sound is very familiar to him; the geese; the foxes, who bark like forest demons; the red squirrels, to whom Thoreau throws some corn; the jays, who stole the corn; the chickadees; the partridges; the hounds, who sometimes circle his house; and the hares, one of which lives under his house. Thoreau wonders if there is a kind of civilization among animals as is there is among men.