Wild Animals at Home

ght, 1

Thompso

eserved, inc

into forei

g the Sc

N THE UNI

FE PRESS, GARD

re

ears. In the canyons from British Columbia to Mexico, I have lighted my campfire, far beyond the bounds of law and order

afraid of man, and inclined to stare curiously from a distance of a few paces. But very soon they learn that man is their mos

t of the rifle and of the lawless skin hunter soon turned all big game into fugitives of excessive shyness and wariness. One glimpse of a man half a mile off, or a whiff of h

ow degrees, a different attitude in these animals toward us. In this Reservation, and nowhere else at present in the nor

hey are not afraid at one's approach. Truly this is ide

attracted more travellers than even the landscape beauties. I know it was solely the joy of being among

few and far between. Any one can go and have the same or better experiences to-day. But I give them as they happen

pointing out my friends as they chance to pass, adding a few comments that should make for a better acquaintance on all sides. And I have offered glimps

h me in most of the experiences narrated and had a larger share i

Thompso

nt

A

Cute

tle Beast, My Fr

rie-dog

's Sense o

inguishi

yote's

irie-dog an

and His Life

ler in th

at and His

e Tra

er-The Mol

arers-Fox, Marten,

derful Fur i

and the Si

in Velvet-

strious

Da

r and Hi

Hoofs and Le

ding Bla

acktail's Rac

's Safety Is

iti-The Nobles

a Band

gling

a Chargin

oodoo

e Biggest of

er's Moo

iren

of Our Game-

unken R

telope and Hi

cued Bi

the Devil's

ell-meani

mell-

ty of Ste

ess of th

Skunks at Sh

Shanty with t

nd the Unwi

t Sku

ver-grizzle-

t Harmless

iable B

f the Kindl

vil O

that Rescue

the Lost

Aga

man Br

el and His Jerky

y Pine Sq

nd Ground-s

rrel that Plays

the Pick

munk

el that Pretends

Bird-The North

gmy-The Leas

its and Thei

ail-The Cleve

that Wears

f the Mounta

's Ri

bbit D

ost Ra

e Mule-The Pr

Moss that

herwise

Is in the

of the C

ping Mo

ling Mo

ats, Big an

or Mountain

od-The Cana

Thing in th

I Met a

l of My

ous Night

f High and L

ent Kinds

-tre

o Bear Fam

the Garba

me Joh

als of the

ly and th

mals of Yello

Half-ton

dog town F

ING

with the Coyote a

ing me from the rocks

Fo

quarre

ver

-dee

ail Fa

other with

r among the Deer at

n Wyo

Yellowstone

ots at the H

ots at the

he Yello

The Wi

lo gr

lowstone

heep on Mt

Bobcat's adventu

s of the Bobcat

e Skun

ring mushrooms f

ing the Pic

a cross between a Rab

ntail fre

l that rode twenty

ancing in the ligh

s fascinated by

ost Ra

or Calli

ull of hay stored

ing and (b) Tracks of Mo

sneaking around

ar Family as mad

y journal in the

brother camera-hunter was stal

at nearly every tu

e to a tree, if on

Harmon feedi

at feedi

ut the bear's mark, (b) E.

his sins and h

happy at

ute C

ute C

TTLE BEAST, MY

t you have exactly outlined the kingdom of the Coyote. He is even yet found in every part of it

I have discovered the swift gray form of the Coyote among the Prairie-dog towns along the River flat between Livingst

ibly suggesting that the Coyote looks like a cross between the Fox and the Wolf. Such an origin would be a very satisfactory clue to his characte

uctive among the creatures that he can master. He is a beast of rare cunning; some of the Indians call him God's dog or Medicine dog. Some make him the embodiment of the Devil, and some goin

resence as he goes, remember that he is hunting for something to eat; also, that there is another, his mate, not far away. For the Coyote is an exemplary and moral little beast who has only one wife; he love

o catch a Prairie-dog! Every one knows that though these little yapping Ground-squirrels will sit up and bark at an express train but twenty feet away, they scuttle down out of sight the moment a man, dog or Coyote enters into the far distant precincts of their to

RIE-DOG

y are out of sight the second Coyote rushes forward and hides near any promising hole that happens to have some sort of cover close by. Meanwhile, Coyote number one strolls on. The Prairie-dogs that he scared below come up again. At first each puts up the top of his head merely, with his eyes on bumps, much

he Coyote gets smaller in the distance and the other Prairie-dogs coming out seem to endorse his decision and give him renewed confidence. After

istant hillside. She does not come near it openly and rashly. There is always the possibility of such an approach betraying the family to some strong enemy on watch. She circles around a little, scrutinizes the landscape, studies the tracks and the wind, then comes to the door by more or less devious hidden ways. The sound of a foot outside is enough to make the little ones cower in absolute silence, but mother reassures them with a whining call much like that of a dog mother. They rush out, tumbling over e

E'S SENSE

s wits, and saving his life by the tireless serviceability of his legs; so has developed both these gif

attached to the camp on the inner circle was a conceited, irrepressible little puppy named Chink. He was so full of energy, enth

feed on the garbage pile, but realizing the peace of the Park he became bolder and called occasionally b

res with the Coyote

s by E.

tler watching me

by E.

young

by G.

one of the campers in a spirit of mischief said to the dog, "Chink, you

a war-whoop. Away went the Coyote and it looked like a good race to us, and to the Picket-pin Ground-squirrels

t in spite of his magnificent bounds and whoops of glory, Chink was losing ground. A little later the Coyote obviously had to slack up to keep from running away altogether. It had seemed a good race for a quarter of a mile, but it was

Coyote could run all around him, and nipped him, here and there, and when he would, and seemed to be cracking a series of good

to, for after all he was merely carrying out orders. But he made up his mind that from that time

him a hundred yards or so from camp, would chase and race him back in terror to some shelter. At last things got so bad t

abused. He began to grumble vaguely about "If something didn't happen pretty soon, something else would." Just what he meant I didn't ask, but I know that the Coyote disappear

TINGUIS

pack of ravening Wolves, and get a sufficiently satisfactory thrill of mingled emotions at the sound. But the guide will reassure you by saying that that great pack of howling Wolves is nothing more than a harmless little Coyote, perhaps two, singing their customary vesper song, demonstrating their wonderful vocal powers. Their usua

ings Hotel, and I must say I have learned to love it. It is a wild, thrilling, beautiful song. Our first camp was at Yancey's last summer and just after we had all tu

s fecundity, is not easily downed. I must confess that if by any means they should succeed in exterminating the Coyote in the West, I should feel that I had lost something of very great value. I never fail to get that joyful thrill when t

YOTE'S

that sings eac

prairie-dogs that

d prairie-dogs I f

ey had in them is

fr

l your soul or pier

you to do is give

yap-yap for

yoop-yoop f

w-wow for th

-h for the ca

op-yow

howling winds, the f

availing fount, m

ittle birds would qu

e on the ground in

fr

oprano, and a bas

frill and whirr and shak

'm an organ-I'm a

ching sound is fo

fr

ling wilderness, a

and Melba mixed and

edral organ and

bling nightingale,

fr

r paint the town, or p

ou to do is to giv

etc.

re ve

miracle, I'm not

does waken up how h

d vocal stars-an

s, their money bags, th

fr

the Wildest West, the

erian opera of

ing orchestra with

rnado-I'm the shri

fr

TNO

rights r

rairi

Hi

ie-dog an

K AND HIS LI

note in abundance this "dunce of the plains." The "dog-towns" are frequent along the railway, and at each of the many burrows you see from one to six of the inmates. As you come near Gardiner there is a steady rise of the country, and somewhere near the edge of the Park the elevation is such that it imposes one of those mysterious barriers to animal exte

-yek-yek-yeeh," uttered as an alarm cry while the creature sits up on the mound by its den, and every time it "yeks" it jerks up its tail. Old

d of turnips or alfalfa-a very proper place, to seek for wholesome, if commonp

on a basis of brotherly love and Christian charity; having effected, it would seem, a limited partnership and a most satisfactory division of labour: the Prairie-dog is to dig th

Owl and the Snake merely use the holes abandoned (perhaps under pressure) by the Prairie-dog; and if any two of the three underground worthies happen to m

per annum. The best way to get rid of them, practically the only way, is by putting poison down eac

nt grass, gathered between cautious looks around for any new approaching trouble, and broken by so many dodges down the narrow hole that his ears are worn off close to his head. Could any simpler, smaller pleasure than his be discovered? Yet he is fat a

TLER IN

-yek took to the plains for a range, anot

a far louder and longer cry for signalling across the peaks and canyons, and so became the bigger,

Yellowstone one may hear his peculiar, shri

an hour's hard work before you sight the orange-breasted Whistler among the tumbled mass of

ks and blessed with a whistle that would fill a small boy with envy. Now, lest the critical should object to the combination name of "Rock Woodchuck," it is well to remind

lers; and there as I sat sketching one day, with my camera at hand, one pok

RAT AND H

ttons. Anything odd or glittering was his especial joy. He had no theory about these things. He did not do anything in particular with them. He found gratification in spreading them out to gloat over, but I think his chief joy was in the collecting. And

cture the Pack-rat, a small creature like a common rat, but with soft fur, a bushy tail, and soulful eyes, li

these collections. They are usually around the trunks in a clump of low trees, and consist of a small central nest about eight inches across, warm and soft, with a great mass of sticks and thorns around and over this, leaving a narrow entrance well-guarded by an array of cactus spines; then on top of all, a most wonderful collection

ously from the saddle of some camper. And when any of these articles are found missing it is usual to seek out the nearest Rat house, and here commonly th

EE T

ne from its associate cup one night, but in that cup you may find a long pine cone or a surplus nail, by which token you may know that a Pack-rat has called and collected. Sometimes this enthusiastic fancier goes off with food, but leaves something in its place; in one case that I heard of, the Rat, either wit

things around camp, or some morning find your boots stuffed with pebbles, deer sign, or thorns, do not turn peevish or charge the guide with folly; it means, simply, you have been visited by a Mountain Rat, and any uneatables you miss will doubtless be found in his museum,

VER-THE M

-rat

lls, which isn't quite true. For the Mole is a creature unknown in the Park, and the animal that makes these mounds is exceedingly abundant. It is the common Mole-gopher, a gopher related very distantly to the Prairie-dog and Mountain Whistl

a short tail and relatively immense forepaws and c

lf a bushel. Next count the mounds that are within a radius of fifty paces; probably

there are scores of ancient mounds flattened by the weather,

re may be a pair of Gophers for every acre in the Park, estimate the tons of earth moved by one pair and multiply it by the acres in the Park, and y

re, but here before our eyes is going on an upheaval of enormous extent and impor

ole-g

I

Fur-b

I

Fur-b

N, BEAVER,

es of Colorado, Overland, and Stalheim, you, in your winter home, know all about fur as it enters your world with its beau

shining outer coat, one for warmth, the other for wet and wear. Some northern animals can store up food in holes or in the fat of their bodies, so need not be out when the intensest cold is on the land. Some have to face the weather all winter, and in these we find the fur of its best quality. Of this class are the Marten and the No

NDERFUL FUR

m an element of exceptional vigour, which resulted in a peculiar intensifying of all pigments, transmuting red into black and carrying with it an unusual vigour of growth and fineness of texture, producing, in

Red

photo by

es quar

photo by

in very cold climates. Owing to its elevation the Yellowstone Park has the winter climate of northern Canada, and, as might ha

y by the fire before the hour of sleep, a curious squall is heard from the dark hillside or bushes, a squall followed by a bark like that of a toy terrier. Sometimes it keeps on at intervals for five minutes, and sometimes it is answered by a similar noise. This is the bark of a

in a while you will see his yellow-brown form drifting on the prairie as though wind-

tting off all other foods brings all the Fox population about the hotels whose winter keepers dai

he disappeared, and did not die of sickness, old age, or wild-beast violence; and what I heard I may tell in a different form, only, be it remembered, the names of the persons and places are disguised, as well as the date; and my informant m

R AND THE

ellow in his make-up-yes, I almost said, of good citizenship. I suppose, because in addition to the breezy, romantic character of his calling, seasoned with physical danger as well as moral risk, there is away down in human nature a strong feeling that, in spite of man-made laws,

h nefarious tricks and tools, to steal the flesh and fur that legally were not his. Far from it. Jo

this claim in the late '80's. Old man Cree-he was only forty, but every married man is "Old Man" in the West-was ready to work at any honest calling from logging or sluicing to grading and muling. He was strong and steady, his wife was steady and strong. They saved their money, and little by little they got the small ranch-house built and equipped; little by little they added to thei

ly into their happy house a little girl, and all the prairie sm

e day. His son rode long and far on the range for two hard days before he sighted a grazing pony, and down a

urried up, and the boy rushed off to

r Cree conscious but despairing. A fire was made, and hot tea revived him. Then Josh cut two long poles from the nearest timber and made a stretcher, or travois, Indian fashion, the upper ends fast to the saddle of a horse, while the other ends trailed on the ground. Thus by a long, slow journey the wounded man got back. All he had prayed for was to get home. Every invalid is sure that if only he can get home all will soon be well. Mother

a house on which was still $500 of the original mortgage. Josh was a brave boy and growing strong, but unboyishly grave with the weight of care. He sold off the few cattle that were left, and set about keeping the roof over his mother and ba

st again and again, but it only made the principal larger, and it seemed that the last ditch was reached, that it would

ned his foot. It was an easy drive to Fort Yellowstone, and there he readily agreed, when they asked him, to take the letters and packages and go on farther to the Canyon Hotel. Thus it was that on

x in a magnificent coat. Another was in front of the house, and the keeper said that as many as a dozen came some days. And sometimes, he said, there also came

he hotel man glancing from the window exclaimed, "Here he is now!" and Josh peered forth to see in the light of sunrise something he had often heard of, but never before seen, a coal-black Fox, a giant among his

hotel man. "I'll bet that pe

s heart. Five hundred dollars! just the amount of the mortgage. "Who owns wild beasts? The man that kills

middle was perforated with a hole, through which the distant landscape was seen much clearer-a well-known law, an ancient trick, but it made the quirt prized as a thing of rare virtue, and Josh had refused good offers for it. Then a figure afoot was seen, and coming nearer, it turned out to be a friend, Jack Day, out a-gunning with a .22 rifle. But game was scarce and Jack was returning to Gardiner empty-handed and disgu

e gone. Josh was dandling baby sister on his lap as he told of his trip, and he learned of two things of interest: First, the bank must have its money by February; second, the stable at Gardiner wanted a driver for the Cook City stage. Then the little

then three days later the return, in the cold, the biting cold. It was freezing work, but

k he got a sudden thrill. He was coming down the long hill back of Yancey's when what should he see there, sitting on its tail, shiny black with yellow eyes like a huge black cat unusually long and sharp in the nose, but a wonderful Silver Fox! Possibly the same as the one he saw at the Canyon, for that one

x has cunning measured to his value. He came not, or if he came, was wisely hidden, and so the month went by, till late in the cold Moon of Snow he heard old Yancey, say "There's a Silver Fox bin a-hanging around the stable this last week. Leastwise Dave says he seen him." There were soldiers sitting around that stove, game guardians of t

rs one by one went up the ladder to the general bunk-room. He rose again, got the lantern, lighted it, carried it out behind the lonely stable. The horses were grinding their hay,

were chattering in spite of his overcoat. Another gray form came, then a much larger black one shaped itself on the white. It dashed at the first, which fled, and the second one followed but a little, and then sat down on the snow, gazing at that bright light. When you are sure, you are so sure-Josh knew him now, he was facing the Silver Fox. But the light was dim. Josh's hand trembled as he bared it to lay the back on his lips and suck so as to make a mousey squeak. The effect on the Fox was instant. He glided forwar

cursed his own poor trembling hand, an

Fox might come back!" Suddenly he remembered something. He got out a common sulphur match. He wet it on his lips and rubbed it on the muzzle sight

surprise when from the shelter of the stable wall ten feet below there leaped the great dark Fox. At fifteen feet it paused. Those yellow orbs were fie

itting with the fierce frost of a Yellowstone winter's night? Why should travel-w

e-or the banker? he got his five hundred, and mother found it easy to ac

," she said; "I only knew it woul

une's tide, and the crucial moment of the change was when those three bright sulphur spots were

N IN VELVE

wn fur and its golden throat, comes naturally after the Silver

asel. It is a creature of amazing agility, so much so that

kills Rabbits and Grouse when it can find them, and s

resting note on the Marten, made while he was a

was spurting blood on both sides. They followed for three or four hundred yards, and then the Deer track was joined by the tracks of five Marten. In a few minutes they found the Deer down and the five Marten, a family probably

USTRIOU

en up the whole northwest of the United States and Canada. It is the Beaver to-day that is the chief incentive to poachers in the Park, but above all the Beaver is t

(b) Stumps of tree cut and remo

by E. T

Mule

by E.

unparalleled in the animal world. Here are the principal deliberate constructions of the Beaver: First the lodge. The Beaver was the original inventor of reinforced concrete. He has used it for a million years, in the form of mud mixed with sticks and stones, for building his lodge and dam. The lodge is the home of the family; that is, it shelters usually one old male, one old female and sundry offspring. It is commonly fifteen to twenty feet across outside, and three to five feet high. Within is a

ings. It is strictly a freight canal for bringing in food-logs,

ood example at Yancey's in 1897; it was only seventy feet long. The longest I ever saw was in the Adirondacks, N. Y.;

he sunning place, generally an ant-hill on which the Beaver lies to enjoy a sun-bath, while the ants pick the creepers out of his fur. Third, the mud-pie. This is a little

te food, is aspen, also called quaking asp or popl

E

w to having deep water for safety, close by poplars for food. In this way I found the Beavers at Yancey's in 1897 had constructed thirteen dams in succession. But when I examined the ground again in 1912, the da

g his Tail

ed yards long. But now it is broken and the pond is drained. And the reason as before-the Beavers used all the food and mov

ey's now and probably made by the same col

theast side of Yellowstone Lake where you may go on a camera hunt

some popular error

use its tail

e big logs in

and cannot d

ow a tree in

odge outside with

ER AND

in belly-bumping down some icy hill, on a sled of glori

inary creatures that ever caught their prey alive. This may be largely owing to the fact that it has taken entirely to a fish diet; for without any certa

is an established game with this animal; and probably every individual of the species frequents some Otter slide. This is any convenient steep hill or bank, sloping down into deep water, prepared by much use, and worn into a smooth shoot that becomes especially serviceable when snow or ice are there to act as lightning lubricants. And here the Otters will meet, old and young, male and female, without any thought but the joy of fun together, and shoot down one after the other, swiftly, and swifter still, as the hill grows s

oor. The very best are seen after the snow has come, but still you can see them with your own eyes, and if you are very lucky and ve

and

egs o

oofs and Le

NDING B

y up the Missouri, one hundred and ten years ago, they met, on the very edge and b

to British Columbia, and from California to Manitoba; and is on

one is almost sure to come on a family of Deer wandering across the lawn, or posing among the shrubbery, with all the artless grace of the truly wild creature. These are the representatives of several hundred that coll

ion and truly wild, but so educated by long letting

ild and beautiful things, but because he can have the films developed at the hotel ove

because of the wonderful way in which it strikes the ground with its legs held stiffly, then rises in the air with little apparent effort, and lands some ten or fifteen feet away. As the hunters say, "The Blacktail hits only the high places in the landscape." On the l

LACKTAIL'S R

lope; that I saw them signally fail in. But a Wolf, or even the swift Coyote, had no chance of getting away from them provided they could keep him in view. We started one of these singers of the plains, and at first he set off trusting to his legs, but the greyhounds were after hi

me suddenly on a mother Blacktail and her two fawns. All three swung their big ears and eyes into full bearing on us, and we reined our horses and tried to check our dogs, hoping they h

s and intercept the hounds. But a creature that runs away is an irresistible bait to a greyh

cktail

by E.

greyhounds were frantic now. The distance between Bran and the hindmost fawn was not forty feet. Then Eaton drew his revolver and fired shots over the greyhounds' heads, hoping to scare them into submission, but they seemed to draw fresh stimulus from each report, and yelped and bounded faster. A little more and the end would be. Then we saw a touching sight. The hindmost fawn let out a feeble bleat of distress, and the mother, heeding, dropped back between. It looked like choosing death, for now she had not twenty feet of lead. I wanted Eaton to use his gun on the foremost hound, when something un

il mother w

by E.

L'S SAFETY I

st or swiftest on the plain, yet the one that gives them dominion and safety on the

Hares, not for the thickest bottomland as do the Whitetail and the Lynxes, but for the steeper hillsides. They know right well where their safety lies, and on that near and bushy bank, laying aside all

eeding. You shall now see the famous bounding of the Blacktail." Then I spurred out after the young buck, knowing that all he needed was a little alarm to make him perform. Did he take alarm and run? Not at all. He was in the Yellowstone Sanctuary. He knew nothing

PITI-THE NOBL

00 to 500 pounds, the bulls 600 or 800, but occasionally 1000. At several of the ho

t of seeking a winter feeding ground with as little snow as possible, so that most of them move out as snow time sets in. Small herds linger in the

G A BAN

cried a cow Elk and her calf lying down. A little more crawling and I sighted a herd all lying down and chewing the cud. About twenty yards away was a stump whose shelter offered chances to use the camera, but my present position promised nothing, so I set out carefully to cross the intervening space in plain view of scores of Elk; and all would have been well but for a pair of mischievous little Chipmunks. They started a most noisy demonstration against my approach, running back and forth across my path, twittering and flashing their tails about. In vain I prayed for a paralytic stroke to

tches as I lay on the ground, b

gator among the Deer

by E.

in Wyoming

by E.

Night

by G.

the Elk, as with most deer, are grown and shed each year. It takes only five months to grow them. They are perfect in late September for the fighting season, and are shed in March. The bull Elk now shapes his conduct to his weaponless condition. He becomes as meek as he was warlike. And so far from batt

esides being less protected and more temptingly filled with blood. A mosquito would surely think he had struck it rich if he landed on the hot, palpitating end of a Wapiti's thin-skin

UGLIN

, and strong, and at their heaviest. A burning ambition to distinguish himself in war, and win favours from the shy ladies of his kind, grows in him to a perfect insanity; goaded by desire, boiling with animal force, and raging with war-lust, he mounts some ridge in the valley and pours forth his very soul in a wild far-reaching battle-cry. Beginning low and rising in pitch to a veritable scream of piercing intensity, it falls to a rumbled growl, which broken into shorter growls dies slowly away. This is the fa

s! Yes, I Do,

hout it being seen. The crashing of the antlers as they close, the roars of hate, the squeals of combat, the cracking

we all love to see a fight when not personally in danger; but luck has been against me. I have been on the battlefield next morning to see where t

, you! you want to see a real old-time Elk fight? You go up on that ridge back of the cor

g but the trampled ground, the broken saplings, and th

it this time. That's exactly like it was. One pair was jest foolin', one was fencing and was still perlite; but that t

dy of the one who did not win. The antlers are a fair index of the size and vigour of the stag, and if the fa

A CHARG

r-bugle of an Elk. He bawled aloud in brazen, ri

and he brought it at a trot, squealing and roaring as he came. When he got within forty y

is mane was bristling and in his eyes there blazed a marvellous fire of changing opalescen

ee. And there I sat watching that crazy bull as he prodded the trunk with his horns, and snorted, and raved around, telling me just what he thought of me, inviting him to a fight and

gramme was carried out admirably. Fossum got within fifty feet and still the Elk lay sleeping. Then the camera was opened out. But alas! that little pesky "click," that does so much mischief, awoke the bull, who at once sprang to his feet and ran-not for the woods-but for the man. Fossum with the most amazing nerve stood there quietly focussing his camera, till the bull was within ten feet, then pressed the button, thre

camera, and when the plate was devel

one in winter: (a) Caugh

y F. Ja

l Elk c

by Joh

is coming is evidenced in the stamping feet and the wind-blown whiskers, and yet in spite of the peril of the moment, and th

HOOD

rner of the Yellowstone Lake, and here it was my luck to have

motor boat and were camped on the extreme southeast Finger, at a point twenty-five miles as the crow flies, and over fifty as the trail goes, from any human dwelling. We

undred yards, at which distance I took a poor snap. The Elk wheeled and ran out of sight. I set off on foot wit

. 1, Plate XV. As she did not move, I said to Tom: "You stay here while I creep out to that sage brush and I'll get a picture of her at fifty yards." By crawling on my hands I was able to do this and got picture No. 2. Now I noticed a bank of tall grass some thirty yards from the cow, and as she

t shots at t

by E. T

dicine and got her hypnotized? Now I am going to get up to about twenty yards and take her picture. While I do so

s. The Elk did not move, so I said: "Well, Bossie, you have callers. Won't

e good enough to lie down."

then giving her a nudge of my foot I sa

giving me Nos

go!" And as she went off I fir

t shots at t

by E. T

ble words, and was falling back on the cont

-- meaning -- of t

e I have Elk medicine. Now show me a M

hours, during which I heard little fr

sick Elk; she was fat and hearty. She wasn't poisoned or doped, 'cause there's no possibility of that. It wasn't

but one, and that was when she lay down. I didn't tell her to lie down till I saw she was going to do it, or

THE BIGGEST

serve. But all they needed was a little help; and, receiving it, they have flourished and multiplied. Their numbers have grown by natural increase from about fifty in 1897 to some five hundred and fifty to-day; and they have spr

back in the days of my youth. On the Yellowstone, I am sorry to say, I never saw

NER'S M

t a Moose, I was implicated in th

nds on a camping trip. Our companions were keen to get a Moose; and daily all hands but myself were out with the exper

t: "I'll have to go out and show you men how to call a Moose." I cut a good piece of birch-bark and fashioned carefully a horn. Disdaining all civilized materials as "bad medicine," I stitched the edge with a spruce root or wattap, and soldered it neatl

wstone: (a) In Billing

by E. T

SIRE

you catch one Moose, Moo

ps, and woods of mixed timber. The sunset red was purpling all the horizon belt of pines, and the peace of the still hour was on lake and swamp. With some little sense of profanity I rai

seems to repel the bull Moose and alarm him if the cow seems over-eager. There is a certain etiquette to be observed; it is easy to

ring whines, then broke into a louder, farther reaching call that thrilled up echoes from a

strained our eyes and watched at every line of woods, and still were wa

hanging half a minute, had completed its fall with breaking of many branches, and a mu

e "woof" of a Bear, but I was in doubt. Then without any more noises, a white array of shining antler

"woofed" again, and the guide, with an eye always to the

ss, seeing I had not called for twenty minut

the sandy bottom, the guide did the same at the other end, and she arose standing in the canoe and aimed. Then came the wicked "crack" of the rifle, the "pat" of the bullet, the sn

cording to the correct rules of sportin

tood beside the biggest Moose that had been killed there in years. It was triumph I suppose; it is a proud thing to act a lie so cleverly; the Florentine assassins often

OF OUR GAM

cross the plain. "Pretty bad luck when the Buffalo gone. Them little birds make their nest in a Buffalo's wool, right o

of nesting, not in the shaggy mane between the horns of the ruling monarch, but on any huge head it might find after the bull had fallen, and the skull, with mane attached, lay discarded on the plain. While always, even when nesting on the ground, the wool of the Buffalo was probably used as lining of the black-bird's nest.

a poor substitute for the Buffalo in the ran

Moose-t

by E.

) Bull and Cow at Banf

by G. G

RUNKEN

the forests in small numbers, as well as the plains in great herds. I estimate them at over 50,000,000 in A.D. 1500. In 1895 they wer

old timer, Dave Roberts, he said: "Twenty years ago, when I first saw this valley, it was black-speckled with Buffalo, and

taken up energetically by the officers in charge. Protection, formerly a legal fiction, was made an accomplish

fore it was necessary. "Could we not save the Buffalo as range-cattle?" is the question that most ask. The answer is: It has been tried a hundred times and all attempts have been eventually frustrated by the creature's temper. Buffalo, male or female, are always more or less dangerous; they cannot be tame

egions replace the true buffalo-birds. Perched on their backs or heads or running around them on the ground are these cattle birds as of yore, like boats around a man-o'-war, or sea-gulls around a

NTELOPE AND

ld. It is the only known ruminant that has hollow horns on a bony core as

horns of an ox and Deer combined, the eyes of a Gazelle, the build of an Antelope, and-the speed of the wind. It is the swiftest fo

ikely to catch the eye of the trav

Heli

outheast we saw some white specks showing, flashing and disappearing. Then as far to the northeasterly we saw others. Hofer now r

these flashes. By means of a circular muscle on each buttock they can erect the white hair of the rump p

owstone Gate:

y F. Ja

aptiv

by E.

in Sheep on

by E.

own again in a few seconds. The flash is usually a signal of d

ue to go down. They do not flourish when confined even in a large area, and we have reason to fear that one of the obscure inexorable laws of nature

SCUED

h land as far east as the western edge of the Dakotas, westerly to the Cas

e their numbers were millions. But the dreadful age of the repeating rifle and lawless skin-hunter came on, till the end

ves mightily. They aroused all thinking men to the threatening danger of extinction; good laws were passed and then enforced

not permit the approach of a man within a mile. But our new way of looking at the Bighorn has taught them

e Park, and I saw not a single Sheep, although it was estimated that there we

he Bighorn in the Yellowstone Park had increased to considerably over two hundred, and the traveller can find them

he slide rock I caught sight of a Sheep. A brief climb brought me within plain though not near view, to learn that there were half a dozen at least,

f ewes. The rams keep their own company all summer

en ewes with their lambs; but the sky was dark with leade

nd far less snow than in the upper ranges. I have just heard that this winter four great rams are seen there every day with about forty other Sheep; and t

TNO

ies of Northern Anim

he Devil'

he Devil'

he does or the pleasure he loses. I have loved the Bat ever since I came to know him; that is, all my mature life. He is the climax of creation in many things, highly developed in brain, marvellously keen in senses, clad in exquisit

ony where I could see it daily, and would

to keep hidden from our eyes. I shall not forget the unpleasant sensations I had when first, in 1897, I visited the Yellowstone Wo

uth with sounds of oozing, retching and belching. Then as quickly reswallowed with noises expressive of loathing on its own part, while noxious steam spreads disgusting, unpleasant odours all around. The whole process is quickly repeated, and goes on and on, and has gone on for ages, and will go. And yet

t gazing on such exposure. Anyhow, we shall all get underground soon enough; and I usually drop off when our party prepares to e

e, but because my ancient antipathy was routed by my later predilection-I was told that Bats "occurred" in the kitchen. Sure enough, I found them, half a dozen, so far as one could tell in the gloom, and thanks to the Park Superintendent, Colonel L. M. Brett, I secured a specimen which, to my great surprise, turned out to be the long-eared Bat, a Southern species never before discovered nor

l-meani

l-meani

s on its head and stripes on its body. It is an ideal citizen; minds its own business, harms no one, and is habitually inoffensive, as long as it is left alone; but it will face any

r countries have prior claims on the Eagle, I could not secure, fo

Canada the Skunk is found, varying with climate in size and colour

tween forest and prairie, but seems to avoid

onally about Mammoth Hot Springs and Yancey's, at which l

SMEL

is should be in capitals, it has nothing at all to do with the kidneys or with the sex organs. It is simply a highly specialized musk secreted by a gland, or rather, a p

im temporarily. If it enters his mouth it sets up a frightful nausea. If the vapour gets into his lungs, it chokes as well as nauseates. T

ness of the Skunk when let alone. In remote places I find men who still think tha

LTY OF S

p back and let the Skunk run away. But the fearless one in sable and ermine did not run, and I did not keep back, but I walked up very gently. The Skunk stood his ground and raised his ta

er up. Still, I did not care to handle the wild and tormented thing on such short acquaintance, so I got a small barrel

pproached. It is a sad commentary on our modes of dealing with wild life when I add that as afterward

NESS OF

y still to be seen, opposite Yancey's, I lost no opportunity of making animal investigations. One of my methods was to sweep the dust on the tr

ide the kitchen door. That night I was watching for them. About dusk one came, walking along sedately with his tail at half mast. The house dog and the house cat both were at the door as the Skunk arrived. They glanced at the newcomer; then the cat discreetly went indoors

sharp noise rose a little higher, but no one offered t

thing to go out and see the

NG SKUNKS A

in fact, it was but half light, and in those days we had no brilliant flash

his way to the box trap with its tempting odorous bait. A Mink or a Marten, not to say a Fox, would have investigated a little before entering. The Skunk indulged in no such waste of time. What had he to fear-he the little lord of all things with the power of smell? He went in like one going home, seized the bait, and down went the door. The uninitiated onlookers expected an explosion from the Skunk, but I knew quite well he never wasted a shot, and did not hesitate to

next day I photographed him to my heart's content. More than once as I worked around at a distance of six or eight feet, the Skunk's tail flew up, but I kept perfectly still then; tal

the captive looked at me in mer

netting of the fence, whereupon he waddle

E SHANTY WI

e, neither did he seem offended. I suppose it was his mate. That was the beginning of his residence under the floor of my cabin. My wife and I got very well acquainted with him and his wife before the summer was over. For though we had the cabin by day, the Skunks had it by night. We always left them some scraps, and regularly at dusk they came up

AND THE UN

e were many blank nights; on others the happenings were trifling, but some were full of interest. In this way I learned of the Coyote's visits to the garbage pail and of the Skunk establishment under the house, and o

d of Bobcat's adv

he was wandering about when a hungry Wild Cat or Bobcat Lynx appeared, C. Noting the promise of something to kill for food, he came on at D. The Skunk observing the intruder said, "You better let me alone." And not wishing to make trouble moved off toward E. But the Bobcat, evidently young and inexperienced, gave chase. At F the Skunk wheeled about, remarking, "Well, if you will ha

nce was so clear that I have sketched here from imagina

b) "Ha," he says, "A meal for me." "Beware," says the Skunk; (c) "No! Then take that," sa

s by E.

ET S

Skunk if I did not add a word about c

le endeavour to defend themselves as nature taught them. But for this I should have no fear. Not only do I handle them myself, but I have induced many of my wild-eyed visitors to do so as a necessary part of their education. For few indeed there are in the land to-day that reali

daughter playing among the Skunks, and need add only that they are ful

ther Skunk and her brood; (b

by E. T

I

r-grizzle

I

r-grizzle

kindness and care and the help of an attached little steam-gauge speedometer plumb compass, that gave accurate aim, improved perpendicularity, and increased effici

put my foot in a Badger hole. Such lovely holes, so plentiful, so worse than useless where the B

estroy Gophers, Ground-squirrels, Prairie-dogs, insects, and a hundred enemies of the farm; he may help the crops in a thousand different ways, but he wi

NT, HARML

Illinois to California, wherever there are dry, op

es to see that this is a Badger sunning himself. He seldom allows a near approach, even in the Yellowstone, where he is safe, and is pretty sure to drop down out of sight in his den long before one gets within camera range. The Badger is such a subterranean, nocturnal creature at most times that for long his home life escaped our observat

ear and a Weasel, and that he weighs about twenty pounds, and has a

sional sun-bath, he spends the day in his den and travels about mostly by night. He minds his own business, if let alone, but woe be to the c

den, but the one he chose proved to be barely three feet deep, and I succeeded in seizing the Badger's short thick tail. Gripping it firmly with both hands, I pulled and pulled, but he was stronger than I. He braced himself against the sides of the den and defied me. With anything

ushing toward me, uttering sharp snarls. This one was behaving differently from any Badger I had seen before, but evidently he was going to give me a chance for a picture. After that was taken, doubtless I could save myself by running. We were within thirty yards of each other and both coming strong, when

OCIAB

two Badgers in each den. Nothing peculiar about that, but there are several cases on record of a Badger, presumably a bachelor or a widower, sharing his life with

t by a Coyote, whose speed and agility kept him safe from the Badger's jaws, while he hovered close by, knowing quite well that when the Badger was digging out

ed, then pitied, then embraced", or, to put it more mildly, he got accustomed to the Coyote's presence, and being of a kindly disposition, forgot his enmity and thenceforth they conte

gether, sometimes one leading, sometimes the other. Evidently it wa

OF THE KIN

hich I might hesitate to reproduce but f

dd habit of following dogs, chickens, pigs, and birds, imitating their voices and actions, with an exactness that onlookers sometimes declared to be uncanny. One day he had gone quietly after a Prairie Chicken that kept moving away from him wi

coming up that afternoon called attention to the fact that the boy was missing, and when th

, believing that the child was drowned and carried away by the river. But the parents continued their search even long after all hope seemed dead. And there was no hour of the day when that stricken mother did

EVIL

s power. Only a week before he had set steel traps at a den where he chanced to find a pair of Badgers in residence. The first night he captured the father Badger. The cruel jaws of the jag-toothed trap had seized him by both paws, so he was held helpless. The trap was champed and w

or three days. Meanwhile the mother Badger, coming home at dawn, was caught by one foot. Strain as she might, that deadly grip still held her; all that night and all the next day she struggled. She had little ones to care for. Their hungry cries from down the burrow were d

late; her babies were dead. She buried them w

and then at evening she made for an

THAT RESC

d till night. Then in the evening the child heard a sniffing sound, and a great, gray animal loomed up against the sky, sniffed at the tracks and at the open door of the den. Next it put its head in, and Harry saw by the black marks on its face that it was a Badger. He had seen one just three days before. A neighbour had brought it to his father's house to skin it. There it stood sniffing, and Harry, gazing with less fear than most children, noticed that the visitor had five claws on one foot and four on the oth

was even hungrier. Then he saw something moving out on the plain. It might be the Badger, so he backed into the den, but he watched the moving thing. It was a horseman galloping. As it came near, Harry saw that it was Grogan, the neighbour for whom he had such a dislike, so he got down out of sight. Twice that morning men came riding by, but having once yielded to his shy impulse, he hid again each time. The Badger came back at noon. In her mouth she held the body of a Prairie Chicken, pretty well plucked and partly

uddle to quench his thirst. During the night it rained again, and he would have been cold, but the Badger came and cuddled around him. Once or twice it licked his fa

his taste-dead Mice or Ground-squirrels-but several times she brought in the comb of a bee's nest or eggs of game birds, and once a piece of bread almost certainly dropped on the trail from some traveller's lunch bag. His chief trouble wa

dominant in him, he copied the Badger's growls, snarls, and purrs. Sometimes they played

other's, and strange as it may seem, the memory of his home was already blurred and weakened in the boy. Once or t

G THE

into the den. In the prairie grass he was concealed, but the den was on a bare mound, and the horseman caught a glimpse of a whitish thing disappearing down the hole. Ba

of the man, and refused to come out. Nevertheless, there was no doubt that this was the missing Harry Service. "Harry! Harry! don't you know me? I'm your Cousin Jack," the young man said in soothing, coaxing tones. "Harry, won't

out struggling and crying. But now there rushed also from the hole a Badger, snarling and angry; it charged at the man, uttering its fighting snort. He fought it off with his whip, then

E A

madly over the prairie, on its back a young man shouting loudly, and in his arms a small dirty

turned pale and held his breath till the words reached him: "I have got him,

of his captor, he scratched and snarled like a beast, he displayed his claws and threatened fight, till strong arms gathered him up and placed him on his mother's knees in the old, familiar room with the pictures, and the clock ticking as of old, and the smell of frying bacon, his sister's voice, and his father's form, and, above all, his mother's arms about him, her magic touch on his brow, and her vo

n exclaimed, "Look at that Badger!" and reached for the ready gun, but the boy screamed again. He wriggled from his mother's arms and rushing to the door, cried, "My Badgie! my Badgie!" He flung his arms about the savage thing's neck, and

not look at me," was the only explanation. Doubtless the first part was true, for the Badger den was but two miles fr

ll have been dismissed as a dream or a delirium but for the fact that the boy had been absent two weeks; he was well and strong now, exc

ch would climb to the top and defy the other to pull him down, till a hold was secured and they rolled together to the level, clutching and tugging, Harry giggling, the Badger uttering a peculiar high-pitched sound that might have been called snarling had it not been an expression of good nature. Surely it was a Badger laugh. There

at. The Badger had become an established member of the family. But after a

UMAN

merely something to be killed. "Bang!" and the kindly animal rolled over, stung and bleeding, but recovered and dragged herself toward the house. "Bang!" and the murderer fired again, just as the inmates rushed to the door-too late. Harry ran toward the Badger shouting, "Badgie! my Badgie!" He fl

!" thundered the father, and the hulking half

amed himself into convulsions, he was worn out at sundown and slept little that night. Next morning he was in a raging fever and ever he called for "My Badgie!" He seemed at deat

illing that was such sport to his neighbour's sons, and to his dying day he could

Kildonan. These witnesses may differ as to the details, but all have assured me that in its main outlines this tale is true, and I gladly tell it, for I want you to realize the kindly disposition t

I

and His Jerky

I

and His Jerky

ring overhead as I sat, some twenty-five years ago, on the shore of the Lake of the Woods with an Ojibwa Ind

ded, with characteristic courtesy, "Yes, yes, you are right; if his head is down, his tail must be up." Thoreau talks of the Red-squirrel flicking his tail like a whip-lash, and the word "Squirrel," fr

KY PINE

te; and he covers so many ranges of diverse conditions that, responding to the new environments in lesser matters of makeup, we have a score of different Squirrel races from this paren

East, but I find no other difference. It has the same aggressive, scolding propensities, the same love of the pinyons and their product, the

vel in the pinyons. To the Squirrels they are more than the staff of life; they are meat and potatoes, bread and honey, pork and beans, bread and cake, sugar and chocolate, the sum of comfort, and the promi

l storing mushro

in the Selkirk Moun

stalking t

by E.

mushrooms, representing many fat and wholesome species. It is well known that while a few of them are poisonous, a great many are good food. Scientists can find out which is which only by slow experiment. "Eat them; if you live they are good, if you

ort time and be lost. He makes no such mistake. He stores them in the forked branches of trees, where they dry out and remain good

les fresh cut from a pine cone; sometimes there is a pile of a bushel or more by the place; you have stumbled on a Squirrel's work

tigation, turns out to be a convenient warm chamber some six inches wide and two or three high. It is covered with a waterproof roof of bark thatc

AND GROUND

have abandoned tree life altogether. They have settled down like the Dakota farmers, to be happy on the prairie, where, never having need to get over anything higher than their own front doorste

y. They frequent the borderland between woods and prairie; they climb, if anything is to be gained by it, but they know,

UIRREL THAT P

ark is the Picket-Pin Ground-squirrel. On every level,

by long ages of neglect to a mere vestige of the ancestral banner. It has developed great powers of burro

te sometimes as the first of May, and promptly retires in mid-August, when blazing summer is on the face of the earth, and the land is a land of plenty. Down it goes after three and one half short months, to sleep for eight and a half l

as any of its kind, only it breaks them up into sections, with long blanks of rest betwe

and the more it is alarmed by the approach of an enemy the straighter it sits up, pressing its paw

e, exclaims, "Good Luck! here's a picket-pin already driven in." But on leading up his horse within ten or twelve feet of th

nd learning its ways, for the species was there in thousands on the little prairie about my cabin. I think I

D THE PI

was hardly anything that Chink would not attempt, except perhaps keeping still. He was always trying to do some absurd and impossible thing, or, if he did attempt the possible, he usu

was to catch one of the Picket-pin Ground-squi

id, was due to a streak of Irish in his makeup. So Chink would begin a most elaborate stalk a quarter of a mile from the Ground-squirrel. After crawling on his breast from tussock to tussock for a hundred yards or so, th

t as he should have done his finest stalking, he would go bounding and barking toward the Ground-squirrel, which would sit like a peg of wood

nk did not give up, although I feel sure he had bushels of sa

et-pin, carried out all his absurd tactics, finishing with the grand, boisterous charge, and actually caught his victim; but this time it happened to be a wooden pic

PMU

he timbered portions of the Park. I am sure I have often seen a thousand of them in a mile of road between the Mammoth Hot Springs and Norris Geyser Basin. The traveller who makes the entire round of t

REL THAT PRETEND

n spite of its livery, is not a Chipmunk at all but a Ground-squirrel that is trying hard to be a Chipmunk. And it makes a good showing so far as manners, coat and stripes are concerne

vorous, and quite ready to eat flesh and eggs, as well as seeds and fruit. Warren in his "Mammals of Colorado," tells of having seen one of these Ground-squirrels kill some young Bluebirds; and adds another instance of flesh-eating observed in the Yellowstone Park, where he and two friends, riding along one of the roads, saw a Say Ground-squirrel demurely squatting on a log, holding in its arms a tiny young Meadow Mou

BIRD-THE NOR

the old kind, but in a higher degree. So they named this one Eutamias, which means "good" or "extra good" Chipmunk. And extra good this exquisite little creature surely is in all that goes to make a charming, graceful, birdy, pert and vivacious four-foot. In everyth

the food, for oats are continually spilled from the freighting wagons. Second, t

ating, the Eastern Chipmunk will mount some log, stump or other perch and express his exuberant joy in a song which is a rapid repetition of a bird-like note suggested by "Chuck," "Chuck," or "

and other habits, I shall expect him to render no less than the song of a ni

. They had hailed the mill and its wood piles, and especially the stables, with their squandered oats, as the very gifts of a beneficient Providence for their use and benefit.

in many respects besides beauty they were an improvement on rats: the

was left open a few hours, but we loved to see so much beautiful life about and so forgave them. One of our regular pleasures was to sit back

g home seeds and roots which serve for food in the winter. Or perhaps we should say in the early spring, for the Ch

ridge, Col., I saw one sitting up on a log and eating some grass or seeds during a driving snowstorm. High up in the Shoshonees, after winter had settled down,

tunnel that it digs under ground, usually among roots that make hard digging for the creatures that would rout them out. Very little is known as yet, however, about t

IGMY-THE LE

when found, its history is practically unknown. It probably lives much like its relatives, raising a brood of four to six young in a warm chamber far underground, and brings them up to eat all manner of seeds, grains, fr

ts and th

re is a cross between

photo by E

e Cottonta

r sunset, b

ts and th

glory in his matchless fecundity. To perfect this power he has consecrated all the splendid energies of his vigorous fr

nce speed, but all have an exuberance of multiplication that fills their ranks as fast as foe can thin the line. I

shoe, and the Jackrabbit. All of them are represented on the Yellowstone, besid

TAIL, THE CL

y Fr

ware of a near enemy or confronted by unexpected situations, their habit is to freeze-that

, "Never rush when you are rattled." Now Molly is a very nervous creature. Any loud, sharp noise is liable to upset her, and feeling

for a gun, and then fired into the grass. His little brother gave a war-whoop that their "pa" might well have been proud of, then rushed forward and held up a fat Cottontail, kicking her last kick. Another,

own campfire, and as I did so, my Indian guide pointed to a Cottontail twen

d all held back as I crawled toward the Rabbit. She took alarm and was bounding away when I gave a shrill whistle which turned her into a "frozen" statue. Then I came near and snapped the camera. The Indian boys now closed in and were going to throw, but I cried out: "Hold on! not yet; I want another." So I cha

tle savages any longer. You see that pile of logs over there? Well, Bunny, you have just five seconds to get into that wood-pile. Now git!" and

t, Mo

it,

i, In

second (almost), and before the chase was well begun it was over; her cotton tuft disappeared

THAT WEAR

of the size of its feet, which, already large, are in snow time made larger by fringes of stiff bristles that give the cre

r, contrasted with the hind foot of a Jackra

rill of satisfaction when favoured with a little glimpse into the home ways, the games, or social life of an animal; and the peep I had

riends. We had seen some rough country in Colorado and Wyoming, but we soon agreed that the Bitterroots were the roughest of a

ometimes the man at the rear might ride the whole day, and n

OF THE MOUN

worst of all, was the common Yellow-Jacket-Wasp. These Wasps abounded in the region. Their nests were so plentiful that many were on, or by, the narrow crooked trails that we must follow. Generally these trails were along the mountain shoulder with a steep bank on the upside, and a sheer drop on the other. It was at just such dangerous place

guide leading and the rest of us distributed at intervals among the pack-horses, as a control.

ild, and the wasps became lively. For all at once I heard the dreaded cry, "Yellow-Jackets!" Then in a moment it

ots clinging to the saddle and protecting his face as best he

e and again the bucking and squealing, wit

my face, held my head low, and tried to hold on, while the little pony went insane with the fiery baptism now upon him. Plunging, kicking, and squealing he went, and I stuck, to h

fted my head and looked cautiously toward the wasp's-nest. It was in a bank twenty feet away, and the angry swarm was hovering over it, like smoke from a vent hole. They were too angry, and I was too near, to run any risks, so I sank down again and waited. In one or tw

Y'S

ove this log, put a hand down at each side, grabbed underneath, and the Rabbit was my prisoner. Now I had him, what was I going to do with him-kill him? Certainly not. I began to talk to him.

ing it in some early tumble; I needed both my hands to climb with and catch my horse, so for lack of a better place I took off my hat and said, "Bunny, how w

ok had recovered his pots and pans; all w

nightfall and then made a dark camp in a thick pine woods. It was impossible to make pictures then, so I put the little Ra

ABBIT

s was heard a tremendous "tap-tap-taptrrr," so loud and so near that we all jumped an

t that moment a large Rabbit darted acr

dawned on me that that was the young Rabbit signalling to

ed his signal call, and then a

ts!" exclaimed my frie

Wait and see. There is something up. T

e," said he. Then added: "I've got an acety

held the light, but we rested both on the ground. Very soon a Rabbit darted from the darkness into the great cone of light from the lantern, gazed at that wonder for a moment, gav

nt his nose, and at his alarm thump, all disappeared in the woods. But they soon returned to disport again in that amazing brightness; and, stimulated by the light, they danced about, chasing each other, dodging around in large circles till one of the outermost leaped over the camera box and another following him, leaped up and sat on it. My friend was just behind, hidden by the light in front, and he had no trouble in clutching the impudent Rabbit with both hands. Instantly it set up a loud squealing. The other Rabbits gave a stamping signal, and in a moment all were lost in the woods, but the one we held. Q

ontail that rode tw

by E.

ts dancing in the l

by E. T

is kin. It is a surprising fact that though we spent two weeks in this v

en I found the Snowshoe Hares gathered for a social purpose, and

HOST

e is seen in another mysterious incident

ahead, and report everything afoot"; then sit down on a log to listen to his reports. And he made them with remarkable promptness. Slight differences in his bark, and the course taken, enabled

s as befitted the strong trail, and the straightaway run. But for a

ddle of the field. But at once he dashed out again shrieking, "Police! Help! Murder!" and took refuge behind me, cowering up against my legs. At the same moment from the side of that bramble thicket there went out-a Rabbit. Yes, a common Rabbit all right, but it was a

GE MULE-THE

ears, and its stiff-legged jumping like a bucking m

lack-tipped ears will point out plainly that it is neither the Texas Jackrabbit nor the

ere in the August of 1912 I met with two, close to the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. At a distance of thirty feet they gave me good chances to take pictures, and though the light was very bad I made a couple of sn

in the winter, when the snow mantle of his r

OF MOSS T

slide rock, away up in cold, bleak, windy country above the timber-line, is absolutely the unloveliest landscape and most repulsive home ground that a man could find

at first I made its acquaintance, and Easterners will meet with it in the

point of the rock. Fix your glasses on it, and you will see plainly that the squeak is made by this tiny creature, like a quarter-grown Rabbit with short, round, white-rimmed ears and no visible tail. This is the curious little animal that cannot be happy anywhere but in the slide rock; this is the Calling Hare. "Little Chief Hare" is its Indian name, but it has many others of much currency, such as "Pika," and "Starved Rat," the latter because it is never fat. The driver calls it a "Coney,

a field glass. He was putting all the force of his energetic little s

of this un-rabbity Rabbit is

r the rocks, and on some flat open place spreads the herbage out to be cured for his winter hay. Out in full blaze of the sun he leave it, and if some inconsiderate rock comes in between, to cast a shadow on his hay a-curing, he moves the one that is easiest to move; he never neglects his hay. When dry enough to be safe, he packs it away into

of grass, thistle, meadow-rue, peavine, heath, and the leaves of several composite plants. I suspect that fuller observations will show that they use every herb not actually poisonous, that grows in the vicinity of their citadel. More than one of these wads of hay

y, which it was found could be utilized for food when none other was available. The fact that these barns are

THERWIS

e animal. I have often slept near a Coney settlement and never heard a sound or seen a sign of their being about after dark. Nevertheless, Merriam tells us that he and Vernon Bailey once carried their blankets up to a Coney colony above timber-line in the Salmon River Mountains of Idaho, intending to spend the night there and to study the Coneys whose piles of hay w

le out of his warm bed in the chill black hours and face the driving sleet to save the winter's supplies. But tumble out they did, and overtime they worked, hard and well, for when the morning dawned the slide-r

abbits fascinate

Bitterroot Mts

The Gho

by E. T

TY IS IN

less satisfaction I found. The uncertain trail ramified more and more as I laboured. Once or twice from far below me I heard a mocking squeak that spurred me on, but that too, ceased. When about ten tons of rock had been removed I was baffled. There were half a dozen possible lines of continuation, and while I paused to wipe the "honest sweat" from my well-meaning brow, I heard behind me the "weak," "weak," of my friend as though giving his estimate of my resolution, and I descried him-I suppose the same-on a rock

TNO

to be an albino dome

sts

Camp

of the

combination that often does it. First, show yourself worthy of their respect by holding up your end, be it in an all-day climb or breakneck ride; then at night, after the others have gone to bed, you sit while the old guide smokes, and by a few brief questions and full attention, show that you value any observations he may choose to make. Many happy hours and much important information have been my reward for

em all, and pass them by as mere Mice. But they are worthy of better treatment. Three, a

s the one that skips out of the "grub box" when the cook begins breakfast; and this is the one that runs over your face with its c

large ears, the fawn-coloured back, and the pure white breast, has given it the name of "Deer-mouse." It is noted for dr

imes in a year and does not hibernate, so is compelled to lay up stores of food for winter use. To help it

UMPIN

tapult, afar into the night. Eight or ten feet he can cover in one of these bounds and he can, and does, repeat the

garoo that frequents the great Pyramids. It is so like a Jerboa in build and behaviour that I was greatly surprised and gr

sleeper of the whole somnolent brotherhood is the Jumping Mouse. Weeks before summer is ended it has prepared a warm nest deep underground, beyond the reach of cold or rain, and before the early frost has nipped the aster, the Jumping Mouse and his wife c

some individuals often come creeping about the campfire, looking for scraps or crumbs; or sometimes other reckless y

Coney or

y W. E.

rns full of hay st

by E. T

the arrow; and observation shows that a Jumping Mouse that has lost its tail is almost helpless to escape from danger. A good naturalist records that one individual that was de-tailed by a mowing mach

ry vital purpose in the life of the creature, but we are not al

ALLIN

he bank was in an open place, remote from cliffs or thick woods; it was high, dry, and dotted with holes of rather larger than field-mo

led to the bank by a peculiar bleating noise like

ed the noise to some creature underground. But what it was I could not see or

naturalist friend, he said: "I had the same experience in that country once, and was puzzled until I found out by keeping a

one species so common in the corn-field that I could catch two or three every night with a few mousetraps. But it is scarce on the Yellowstone, and all my a

prairie, I noted a ridge with holes exactly like those I had seen on the Yellowstone. A faint squeak underground gave additional and c

known of it except that it dwells on the dry plains, is a caller by habit;-through not

ak-

and

ts-Big a

suppose see you? Peeping from a thicket, near the trail, glimpsing you across some open valley in the mountains, or inspecting you from various points as you recline b

uld not think an empty skin could lie more flat. Add to this the silent sinuosity of his glide; he seems to ooze around the bumps and stumps, and bottle up his frightful energy for the final fearsome leap. His whole makeup is sacrificed to efficiency in that leap; on tha

OR MOUNTA

o many persons assume that it is three times as ferocious, and therefore to be dreaded almost like a Tiger. The fact is, the American Wildc

Park, but at Gardiner where it was held a captive. But it came from the Park

ts cat-like form and its shor

escaping and (b) Tracks

by E. T

in Lion sneaking a

by E. T

TOOD-THE

xes, their very near kin, and there is a narrow belt of middle territory occupied by both. The Yello

n broad daylight, and walk toward his house. He went inside, got his gun, opened the door a little, and knelt down. The Lynx walked around the house at about forty yards distance, the man covering it

remember that man. A kind-hearted, good fellow, but oh! so timid. His neighbour

tree the whiskered head of a Lynx. The younger man levelled his gun at it, but the other clung to his arm begging him to come away, reminding him

nd went out in time to see the Lynx dragging the victim. She seized a stick and went for the robber. He growled defiantly, but at the first blow of the stick he dropped the lamb and ran. Then tha

s that some folks have about the Lynx, and the la

times I have met them in the woods at close range and each time they have gazed at me in a sort o

meetings have been dimmed by time, but I have used the incident without embell

THE WOODS-MOUNTAIN

in Lions now ranging the Yellowstone Park. And yet one is very safe in believi

ear at the same-about one hundred-and yet every one livin

roit hider, and shyest thing in the woods. I have camped for twenty-five years in its country and have neve

tting in front of the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel! you are in sight of two famous Cougar haunts-Mt. Evarts and Bunsen Peak, and the chances are that, as you sit and p

low of his paw, and run off with it at full speed or carry it up a tree to devour, and he is by choice a man-eater. Commonly uttering the cry of a woman in distress to decoy the gallant victim to his doom." If, on the other hand,

rring to some hair-lifting incident which seemed to be a refutation. But most of these attack

rate). He will go a long way to kill a colt, and several supposed cases of a Cougar attacking a man on horseback

oods merely to study the queer creature, but without intent to do him harm. Nevertheless the timid traveller

E I MET

story of terrible peril from our wild ani

rience. Danger from wild animals is prac

a Grizzly or a Mount

two Lions. I've had one look me o

and stuck his pencil in his mouth by way of getting ready, and ejaculat

season rain is unknown, so we took no tent. Each of us had a comfortable rubber bed and we placed these about a

it began to blow. Black, lumpy clouds came up from the far-off sea; the dust went whirling in little eddies, and when the sun went down

rain in September,' and we huddled into our tentless

heavy drops spattered down. Then there was a loud snor

I made a careful study of the ground, and soon got light. For there were the prints of a huge Mountain Lion. He had prowled into camp, coming up to where we slept, sneaked around and smelt us over, and-I think-walked down the alley between our beds. After

I should yet recall a really perilous predicament, in which thanks to some wild brute, I was near dea

IL OF

l pines, subsisting on canned goods; and when at length we came out on the meadows

't a little fresh milk go fine after a

f it there; help

ew which, and what to do wh

e over me and I said: "I'll show you a cow in

Which is

gan "sniffing." Another bleat and three cows separated from the others; two ran like mad into the woods, the third kept throwi

k L

ied to run, but the ponies sailed alongside, the lariats whistled and in a fla

to kick at me with her free hind leg, so I had to watch the leg, and milk away. The high pitched "tsee tsee" had gradually given place to the low "tsow tsow" of the two streams cutting the foam when a peculiar smell grew strong

lenty of milk now for you two. The rest of us don't

e. Of course, her first impulse was revenge, but I was safe and t

ring from more than one milk malady. The boys upset the bloody milk right there, then took the pai

ROUS NIGH

oar of a bull-the bellow that he utters when he is roused to fight, the savage roar that means "I smell blood." It is on

ing that dreadful war-bellow. The cowboys mounted their ponies, and gave a good demonstration of the power of brains in the ruling of brawn. They took that bull at a

p, vibrating organ tone, the chesty roaring of the enraged bull; and we sprang up to see the huge br

y feet, the shouts of the riders, a few loud snorts, followed by the silence; and whe

mixed with earthquakes and thunder, and slowly I waked to feel that p

n. He could not resist the glorious, alluring chance to come and get awfully mad over that "bluggy milk."

the wagon. Had I jumped up and yelled, he, whether mad or scared, might have trampled one or other of us. That is the bull of it; a h

k! Help! Her

ede, the heavy thudding, the loud whacks of the ropes, and when these sounds had died in the distance, I heard the "pop, pop" o

the Bear Family a

. T.

from my journal i

. T.

I

s of

Low

Sn

I

High and

ke by day? It seems to be so, and the co

stone Lake. This is quite the wildest part of the Park; it is the farthest possible from human dwellings, a

eakness-he always snored a dreadful snore as soon as he fell asleep. That is why he was usually put in a tent

nch chest and a pair of tuneful nostrils. About 2 A.M. I was awakened as before, but worse than ever, by the most terrific, measured snorts,

hing of brush and a silence that, so

de, not by my friend, but by a huge Grizzly that had come prowl

They are afraid of man, they fly at whiff or sound of him, and if in the Yellowstone you run across a Grizzly that se

RENT KIND

f Bears in or near the Yellowstone Park-Blackbear, Little Cinnamon, Big Cinnamon, Grizzlies, Silver-tip,

le. Sometimes in a family of Blackbears there appears a red-headed youngster, just as with ourselves; he is much li

ometimes the silver is nearly absent, in which case the Bear is called a "Big Cinnamon." Sometimes the short mane over his humped shoulders is exaggerated; this makes a "Roach-back." Any or al

R-T

eeth, and rub their back and head up against it as high as they can reach, even with the tip of the snout, and standing on tiptoes. There can be no doubt that a Bear coming to a tree can tell by scent whether another Bear ha

ut some examples. In the country south of the Lake, I found them so com

TO BEAR F

d had many pleasant meetings with Antelope, Beaver, etc., but were disappointed in not seeing any Bears. One of my reasons for coming was the

re investigating for six weeks already, I hadn't seen any. He replied, "You are not in the right place. Go over to the Fountain Hotel and there you will see as many Bears as you wish.

me they stopped their boxing, and as soon as I saw them I stopped walking. The old Bear gave a peculiar "Koff koff," I suppose of warning, for the young ones ran to a tree, and up that they shinned w

an backing slowly toward the hotel, and by way of my best defense, I turned on her all the power of my magnetic eye. We have all of us heard of the wonderful power of the magnetic human eye. Yes, we have, but apparently th

me, in fact she never seemed very serious about it, so I plucked up courage. I remembered what I came for and got down my camera. But when I glanced at the sky, and gauged the light

s a brother camera hunter was

inde Ryan, Fl

Bears at nearly ev

by E.

made up her mind that, "although that human being might be

they jumped as at the word of command. There was nothing about them heavy or bear-like as commonly understood;

was a good reason back of it, for, had they not done as she had told them, they would have got such a spanking as would have made them howl. Yes, it is quite the usual thing, I find, for an old Bla

ere. But my friends in the hotel said that that was not the best place for Bears. I should go to the garbage-heap, a q

T THE GAR

atched from the bushes, some seventy-five yards away, but later I made a hole in the odorous pile itself, and stayed

nuity of the Bear procession, yet I am told that there are far

the story of Johnny Bear, which appears in "Lives of the Hunted," so I shall not further enlarge on

t on the garbage pile while the great Grizzly that had wo

, giving me the side view I wanted, and I snapped the camera again. The effect was startling. That insolent, nagging little click brought the wrath of the Grizzly onto myself. He turned on me with a savage growl. I was feeling just as I should be feeling;

But there was one thing I did not dare t

o kill me-I did not know, but I had a dim vision of my sorrowing relatives developing the plate to see how it happened, for I pressed the button

OME J

of him. In my story of Johnny Bear, I relate many other adventures that were ascribed to him, but these were told me by the men who lived in the Par

satisfaction of visitors who have read up properly before coming to the Park. Indeed, when I went back to the Fountain Hotel fifteen years a

NALS OF TH

view at one time was my highest record, and that after sundown; but I am told that as many as twenty or twenty-five Bears are now to be seen

es take to a tree,

by E.

d B. Harmon f

by E.

whether these creatures are not a serious menace to the human dwellers of the Park. The fundamental peacefulnes

s in the Park had never abused the confidence man had placed in them

xperiences at the garbage pile, went there some year

camera ready, he rapidly approached the family group. When the young ones saw this strange two-legged beast coming threateningly near them, they took alarm and ran whining to their mother. All her maternal wrath was aroused to see this smallish, two-legged, one-eyed creature, evidently chasing

f campers he became a terror, as he soon realized that these folk carried food, and white canvas walls rising in the woods were merely invitations to a dinner ready and

ook's quarters and secured a ham. The cook pursued with a stick of firewood. At each whack the Bear let

chase. Old Grizzly dodged among the pines for a while, but the pony was good to follow; and when the culprit took to open ground, the unerring lasso whistled in the air and seized him by the hind paw. It takes a good rope to stand the jerk of half a ton of savage muscle, but the rope was stro

s sent to Washington Zoo, where he is n

probably the dominant one. But the most grotesque story of all was

population moved out; the bar-keep was cornered, but somewhat protected by his bar; and when the Bear reared up with bot

ul, and what was spilt he carefully licked up afterward, to the unmeasured joy of the lo

If I come in a fur coat, will you treat me?" "No! you got to scar

f peaceably to the woods, and was seen later lying asleep under a tree. Next day, ho

sted that "She wants another round." His guess was right, and having got it, that abandoned old Bear began to reel, but she was quite good-natured about it, and

ing stronger. But whatever it is, it has the desired effect, and "Swizzling Jinnie" lurches over to the table, under which she sprawls at length, and tuning up her nasophone she sleeps aloud, and unpeacefully, demonstrating to all the worl

ZZLY AN

ne of matchless might and unquestioned sway among the wild things of the West, it gives one a shock to

urned in, and presently both toes of the Bear were wedged firmly in the clutch of that impossible, horrid little tin trap. The monster shook his paw, and battered the enemy, but it was as sharp within as it was smooth without,

d on his foot. Sometimes there was a loud succession of clamp, clamp, clamp's which told that t

and recognized as "Can-foot." His comings and goings to and from the garbage heap, by day and by night, were plainly announced

a few minutes those wonderful raw-hide ropes had seized him and the monarch of the mountains was a prisoner bound. Strong shears were at hand. That vicious little can was ripped open. It was completely filled now with the swollen toes. The surgeon dressed the wounds, and the Grizzly was set free. His first blind animal impulse was to attack his seeming t

ears at fe

by F. J

comb pointing out

by E.

Seton feed

y C. B.

pe

als

wston

pe

the Yello

pecies Found in

t Thomps

from the U. S. B

M. Brett, in ch

ti (Cervus

mate of stray bands, they number at least 35

y Mt. Blacktail (

heir number at 400, of which at lea

Odocoileus virgi

ndian Creek, at Crevasse Mt. and in Cottonwood Ba

lces ame

rd of the Park. In 1897 they were estimated at 50. T

nghorn (Antiloc

uch as Lamar Valley, etc. Their numbers have shrunk from many

or Bighorn (O

he western boundary. In 1897 there were about 100, perhaps onl

alo or Bison

hey now number 199 by actual count. These are in tw

irrel (Sciurus hud

in all pi

(Eutamias quadrivi

abundant e

k (Eutamias m

t Mammoth H

rrel (Citellus lat

mm

nd-squirrel (Ci

n all leve

(Cynomys l

irie-dogs, so abundant on the Lower Yellowstone, we

Bear: his sins

s by E.

ohnnie ha

Miss L.

ck Chuck or Marmot (

on all

Squirrel (Sciur

ound. I did

Castor c

and inc

ouse (Onychom

species on the Yellowstone near

e (Peromyscus mani

nt eve

k-rat or Wood-rat

found, but

Field-mouse (Evoto

found in all the surrounding

(Microtus pennsyl

ailey from Lower Gey

Vole (Micr

ls. Doubtless it is generally distributed. This is the bobtailed, short-eared, dark

(Microtus rich

but found in surrounding mo

r zibethicus

of general

Gray Gopher (Th

abounds in the Park. I

ping Mouse (Z

untry, and recorded by E. A. Pr

orcupine (Ereth

he pine woods on the

Pika, or Calling Har

in all sl

ail (Sylvilagus n

in some of the lower regions

abbit (Lep

generally d

ack Rabbit (Le

generally d

ougar or Puma (F

iving in the Park; since then it seems to have increased greatly and is now somewhat

nx (Lynx

mm

ountain-cat

hat c

ed Fox (Vulp

mm

f (Canis o

12, Lieut. M. Murray saw two in a meadow two miles southeast of Snow Shoe Cabin

(Canis

gh officially reckoned they

utra can

rly around the La

ola vison e

mm

easel (Putori

ound. I did

Weasel (Putor

e its range inc

Mustela

ut the Park, b

sher (Muste

me that in the early '90's he to

ne (Gul

stribution, b

unk (Mephit

t Mammoth Hot Spr

(Taxide

mm

Coon (Pro

r I was shown one that was said to have bee

ar (Ursus

ficial count g

(Ursus a

ing. The official co

ked Shrew (So

ed because its known ra

Water Shrew (Ne

, since its known ran

Corynorhinus mac

the Biological Survey for identification. This is the only Bat taken, but t

n Bat (Myot

at (Lasionycter

Bat (Eptes

Bat (Nycte

riber'

ext. The List of Half-tone Plates displays the original page numbers, but links to the actu

inor punctu

b could be a

ht and did, and b

hanged pase

d passe

ged Bitteroot

e in the Bitter

d missing excl

readed cry, "Y

ed conspicious

se make it too

nged inclinde

ll be inclined

Changed

ly to the edge

was not included in

h as it is, I giv