MAMMALIA : THE PORCUPINE. j2I 



In connection with the summer birds of the region it will be prof- 

 itable to consider briefly the general aspect of its Fauna and Flora, as 

 exhibited by associated forms of life, so far as the result of limited 

 observation will permit. 



Necessarily so transient an acquaintance with the region as was ex- 

 perienced was insufficient to afford a clear idea of its Mammalian Fau- 

 na, so that few quadrupeds not of special faunal significance in the 

 present connection will be alluded to. 



One of the most interesting- mammals encountered was the Porcu- 

 pine [Ercthizon dorsahis). The local distribution of this animal seem- 

 ed to be but little influenced by altitude, and it was observed in the 

 lower valley as well as at the mountain tops. On the occasion of 

 my first visit several were met with about the summit of Slide 

 Mountain, but the following year at the same spot none were to be 

 found, and a necrology inscribed on a smooth log accounted for two 

 victims, and was interpreted as a tale of the local disappearance of their 

 race with the advent of thoutrhtless tourists. The next vear, however, 

 it was discovered not only that there were survivors, but that these 

 were given to aggressive familiarity toward strangers. From even- 

 ing till morning dusk our cabin on the extreme summit of the moun- 

 tain was virtually besieged by them, and through the chinks their 

 dark forms could be seen moving about among the shadows in the 

 moonlight, while their sharp cries, and often low conversational chat- 

 ter singularly like the voices of infants, were weird interruptions of the 

 midnight silence, or later, of the moaning wind. 



The seeming nocturnal temerity of these creatures appeared to 

 be simply an exhibition of excessive stupidity. It was found impos- 

 sible to drive them from the camp for any length of time; they seem- 

 ed to be destitute of the faculty of memory, and even a light charge 

 of shot sent among them was only for the moment effectual. Even 

 when one particularly stupid individual had been shot dead in the 

 doorway trying to effect an entrance by gnawing its way through a 



