96 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [17:3— Mch., 1921 



help people understand the essential things in the life of the wild 

 folks ; that wild animals have leisure and much of this is spent in 

 play, some of it in exploring and visiting ; their life is not one fierce 

 struggle for food ; animals and birds have a philanthropy of their 

 own, form alliances against the common enemy and frequently 

 cooperate within the progressive realm of mutual aid. Nesting 

 time, drouths, and famines, which also reach wiser folks, are times 

 of unusual interest in the wilderness. Most birds and animals have 

 a home territory and live closely within this ; many birds returning 

 to the same locality year after year to nest and bring up the 

 children. 



On nearly every trip outdoors the unexpected happens and the 

 rare or unusual is presented. Although it may call for the casting 

 aside of well made plans, our custom has been to seize upon the 

 unusual whenever it appeared, allowing the other plan to wait, for 

 the unusual may happen but once ; it may be the opportunity of 

 a life time. 



One day a nature guide was starting with a party to see the 

 picturesque timberline, with its peculiarly individual trees, flowers, 

 birds and animals. But in sight of the house he came upon a 

 gopher. The gopher was at his life-long activity — ^making a tunnel 

 through the earth. Down in tlie tunnel he dug the earth loose 

 with fore paws, then with palms forward and against his chin, he 

 pushed this loosened pile of earth before him along the tunnel and 

 then outside. The gopher darted from the hole a few inches, 

 dropped his load and darted into the hole again, backwards. 

 Suddenly he pushed out a salamander. The salamander kicked 

 about and then slid headforemost back down the hole. Out he was 

 thrown again. There was not supposed to be any salamanders 

 in the country and this and a number of other incidents held the 

 crowd around the salamander for more than an hour. Everyone 

 had an added interest in gophers, their enemies, neighbors, plant 

 roots, geology and other things outdoors. 



We are in one corner of the Rocky Mountain National Park, at 

 an altitude of 9,000 feet. - Within half a mile radius of us there are 

 about one hundred species of birds, several hundred species of 

 flowers, fifteen species of trees and shrubs; beavers, skunks, 

 coyotes, gophers, ground-hogs, mink, squirrels, chipmunks and 

 rabbits — cotton-tail, Jack and snowshoe; and inside this mile 

 diameter circle, deer, elk, lion, bobcat and bear often make 



