LANDMARKS 145 



that he appeared more like a gray ground squirrel 

 than a chipmunk with black and brown stripes. 



While still a boy I built a log cabin in the Rocky 

 Mountains of Colorado and made my home there. 

 For a number of years there was only one other 

 cabin within miles. Few people came to see me; 

 birds and animals were my callers, visitors, and 

 neighbours. The region was ideal for a wide range 

 of wild life. There were scattered pines and aspen 

 around my cabin which stood in an open valley. 

 On the mountain slope above grew a dense spruce 

 forest. Below, a lively brook rushed through a 

 willow-dotted meadow. I often saw deer that 

 came to the brook to drink, and I spent many hours 

 watching the activities of the beavers that estab- 

 lished a colony on the stream. 



Nearly all the birds and smaller animals were 

 friendly toward me from the start; they were just as 

 eager to know me as I was to know them. I was 

 interested in every living thing. I welcomed the 

 wild people large and small and all quickly learned 

 that I was not dangerous and that nothing around 

 my cabin was ever killed. In a little while blue- 

 birds, wrens, chickadees, camp-birds, crested 

 jays, robins, rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks not 

 only trusted me but ofttimes rushed to me for 

 safety when frightened and when threatened by 

 their enemies. They showed their interest in this 

 place of safety, and my cabin became the centre of a 

 little wild-life reservation. 



