130 SADDLE AND CAMP 



stories of travelers in our northern forests who 

 endeavor to impress their readers with the be- 

 lief that wild beasts line the trail, awaiting a 

 chance to devour the unwary, and that only 

 the untiring vigilance and superb bravery of 

 the traveler-writer saves him from a thousand 

 deaths. We have, let it be said, no wilderness 

 in the United States where one requires as 

 much as a revolver for protective purposes. The 

 Indians are quite harmless and there is but one 

 animal to be feared — the hydrophobic skunk 

 mentioned in another chapter. 



Let me say also that danger on the desert 

 from rattlesnakes is largely illusory. The rat- 

 tler lurks in bunches of sage and greasewood, 

 and the traveler must practice a small amount 

 of ordinary caution, but that is all. At night 

 the snakes are harmless, for they lie quiet 

 after sundown when the cool of evening comes, 

 and it is quite unnecessary to spread hair lariats 

 or other obstacles around the camp to keep 

 them out. A rattlesnake bite is painful, but is 

 by no means likely to be fatal if simple treat- 

 ment is resorted to promptly. I have known 

 many men who have been bitten, but never one 

 who died from a rattlesnake bite. One soon 

 ceases to give the snakes a thought. 



Beyond Cedar Ridge we visited both Mc- 



