586 



DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



shadows on the canvas that entertained us. The little 

 animals were having " dead loads of fun "; they would 

 run and scramble up the tepee as far as possible and then 

 slide down, just as the naked boys do down the muddy 

 banks of the Southern rivers. The animals appeared 

 about the size of large muskrats, but we never saw 



A Barking Fox 



them, for whenever we poked our heads out of the tent 

 door they disappeared, and there was nothing in sight. 

 The foxes bark at night, and in the afternoon. I 

 watched one while giving voice, and it did it so quickly 

 and looked so solemn immediately afterward that at first 

 I was not -certain that the animal under observation 

 made the noise. As a rule the fox gives three barks 

 in quick succession. " Ow! ow! ow! " with the accent on 



