64 DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



I had discovered that it is one thing to catch 

 a wild animal by the tail and it is an entirely dif- 

 ferent proposition to let go of him again. When 

 I reached camp the rest of our party were inside 

 their tents. Audubon says that muskrats may be 

 handled with safety, but I would not advise my 

 readers to trust them. 



Some previous campers had brought some straw 

 upon which to sleep and had left it in a heap where 

 their tent had been pitched. This offered me a 

 means of getting rid of my 



SOMEWHAT DANGEROUS CAPTIVE, 



so I held the rat down until its front paws reached 

 the straw and was glad to see that it immediately 

 made an effort to crawl into the old bedding to 

 hide. As soon as I was sure of its purpose, I care- 

 fully let go of the tail, jerked away my hand, and 

 the rat immediately disappeared under the straw. 



I stood for some time rubbing my tired arm, for 

 I had carried the rat a considerable distance. Then 

 I called to the other campers and as they came out 

 of their tents, I told them that I wanted to break 

 camp, that I did not like the place at all, that it 

 was infested with rats. 



"Rats!" they exclaimed. "Why there are no 

 rats here." 



The heap of straw was directly in front of my 

 own tent which was located on a high bank over- 

 looking the Swan River; the campers were all 

 standing around the straw. I told them that I did 



