108 WOODLAND CREATURES 



begins in December and continues through January 

 into February. One does not hear much after 

 the middle of the latter month, though now and 

 again you may hear a solitary bark in March or 

 even in April. 



To hear foxes barking you should go out at the 

 " edge of night " and wait and listen, but it will 

 be no use if the evening is a wet or windy one. 

 Bad weather damps the spirits of the creatures of 

 the dark, rain and wind silencing even the owls. 

 Yet if the evening is calm and fine, it does 

 not follow that you will hear anything, for there 

 seems to be factors beyond our appreciation which 

 govern the activities of the wild world. What I 

 mean is that one night the country-side will be 

 full of life, owls hooting in every direction, badgers 

 grunting on their nightly rounds, and foxes barking 

 on all sides ; yet the next evening, which to our 

 comparatively dull human senses is just as fine 

 and beautiful as the last, not a thing will be 

 stirring, woods and meadows seeming devoid of 

 life. Possibly wild animals are more sensitive 

 than we to atmospheric pressure. I mean that 

 with a " high glass " their spirits rise, and vice 

 versa as the barometer goes down. At any rate 

 I have never noticed any great activity with a 

 falling glass. 



Writing of foxes barking reminds me of an 

 evening when, on going out to listen, I heard them 

 barking on all sides. It was barely dark when 

 the first began. " Wough ! wough ! " came faintly 

 from the distant dark smudge, which in the failing 



