i66 DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



WHISTLING MARMOT 



startles you with his call and the little chief hare 

 scuttles with its mouth full of grass to its home in 

 the slide rock. 



Here you may rest and regain your breath on 

 the mountain meadow and see the great patches 

 of snow holding their own in spite of the rays of 

 the summer sun, and admire the profusion of 

 beautiful blossoms which mosaic the verdant 

 spots caused by the water which exudes and trickles 

 down from the softening snow beds. Here strange, 

 comical looking goblin thistles apparently twist 

 their hairy necks to peer at the intruder, the yellow 

 Senecio blooms and mingles with the red tips of the 

 still present Indian paint brushes, where asters and 

 the blue Polymonium nestle in the rocky recesses. 



You must walk through patches of heather-like 

 plants which cling close to the rocks and whose 

 blossoms dare not thrust their heads far above the 

 protection of their foliage. You must tramp 

 through masses of twin flowers and as your cruel 

 hob-nailed shoes crush these delicate blossoms their 

 only protest is a faint but fascinating almond-like 

 perfume exuded from their wounds. 



Leaving this Alpine garden far below you rrmst 

 climb the snow-powdered, towering rocks whose 

 frail projections break from the parent stone 

 under the grasp of your hands and crumble away 

 from beneath your feet to go crashing with wild 

 leaps to the blue world below you. 



Up these rocks to the 



