A HERMIT'S WILD FRIENDS 



while a few hours' growth would spoil them 

 if left in the ground. 



Bismarck knew how to eat mushrooms. He 

 did not begin on the freshly gathered ones ; 

 he knew they would keep, and he selected those 

 that would decay shortly. Human beings eat 

 the specked apples from motives of economy, 

 and the same impulse controls the squirrel. 



In the woods about my cabin grow many 

 varieties of the poisonous mushrooms. One 

 deadly variety the " Destroying Angel " 

 possesses a form most pleasing to the eye. 

 Its symmetrical shape and pearly white color 

 give it a look of innocence that has lured many 

 a human being to an early grave. I have never 

 seen a tooth-mark by a squirrel, mouse, or mole 

 in one of these deadly mushrooms, which goes 

 to prove that the wild things know more than 

 some human beings. 



A few years ago, while out on a walk with 

 the Appalachian Mountain Club, I told a pro- 

 fessor, who was an expert on mushrooms, that 

 I used the mushrooms which were approved by 

 the squirrels, and no others. He said that I 

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