232 DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



gown, standing in the doorway looking at her caller 

 and the pet raccoon, both of them on all fours on 

 the parlor floor. Fortunately the charming Ken- 

 tucky girl and I had been playmates and we had 

 known each other since my barefoot and her pina- 

 fore days ; otherwise the situation might have been 

 more than temporarily embarrassing. As it was, 

 my very first formal society call proved to be the 

 most informal visit of the kind that I can remem- 

 ber. 



YOUNG WOLVES 



will accept an old shoe, a ball, or any other object 

 that will appeal to a domestic dog as a plaything. 

 A coyote with which I became acquainted, while 

 visiting the Canadian National Park at Banff, had 

 such a wild frolic with my cap that when I at last 

 regained possession of it the thing was a wreck. 



A timber wolf in Cincinnati was the playmate of 

 my elder brother and was in no-wise different from 

 a frolicking dog. 



FOXES NEVER SEEM TO TIRE OF PLAYING 



with each other; a feather delights them beyond 

 measure, and in pursuit of it they will make phe- 

 nomenal leaps. I have watched young red foxes 

 playing together for more than an hour at a time, 

 and I doubt if there lives any more graceful and 

 playful creature in wood or field. 



