130 THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS 



though the method worked rather well, he had never tried it. 

 The way of all others, that he liked best, was to hunt them 

 by calling, and the best time for that was during the mornings 

 and evenings of the rutting season. 



Later in the year, when the ice is gone, and the beaver is 

 swimming, say a foot under water, the hunter can easily follow 

 his course from the appearance of the surface. The same 

 applies to the muskrat, mink, and otter. Muskrats and beav- 

 ers swim much ahke, as they are usually going in search of 

 roots, and, knowing exactly where to find them, they swim 

 straight; but minks and otters swim a zig-zag course for the 

 reason that they are always looking for fish and therefore are 

 constantly turning their heads about; and that rule applies 

 whether their heads are above or below the surface. 



When a beaver — providing he has not slapped the water with 

 his tail — or an otter dives, an observant hunter can judge fairly 

 well as to where the animal is heading for, by simply noting the 

 twist of the tail, a point that helps the hunter to gauge the 

 place where it may rise. The same applies to whales when they 

 sound, though I found — while whale hunting — that few whalers 

 realized it, and fewer still took advantage of it, for much time 

 was lost while waiting for the whale to rise before the boat could 

 be headed in the right direction. But then the average Indian 

 is much more observant than the average white man. 



If a beaver is caught in a steel trap, he will do his utmost 

 to plunge into water and remain there even though he should 

 drown, yet his house may not be in that river or pond; but 

 if he is wounded, he will either try to reach his house or take to 

 the woods. 



When in pursuit of beavers it is advisable to watch for them 

 on moonlight nights about eight or nine o'clock, and it is best 

 to be in a canoe, as then there is less danger of the beaver sink- 

 ing before he can be removed from the water. The hunter, 

 while waiting for a shot, makes a noise with the handle of his 



