CURIOSITY OF BIRDS AND BEASTS 



583 



no experiments, and consequently no progress, and it 

 would be interesting to know how much the possession 

 of this trait in other creatures has to do with their 

 mental development and their position among the higher 

 animals. When camping on the high bluff overlooking 

 the torrent of the Pend,Oreille, it was hard to tell when 



Fooling the Animals 



evening came, for at half-past nine o'clock at night in 

 August it was still light enough for fly fishing. 



We knew when it was time to retire, not because of 

 the approaching darkness, but because at bedtime a 

 procession of solemn skunks would climb up the steep 

 sides of the canon and march into camp. As soon as 

 we saw them approaching we would hastily bid each 

 other u good-night " and enter our tepees and tents, 



