126 Photography for the Sportsman Naturalist 



slip out and away before we can even catch a 

 glimpse of him. 



Should we be lucky enough to capture him, 

 however, we can take both him and his nest 

 home with us and photograph them at our 

 leisure. 



As it is an exceedingly difficult thing to restrict 

 the range of any of the smaller mammals so 

 as to get satisfactory photographs of them, it is 

 sometimes best to photograph them in captivity. 

 This can be done successfully by the use of a 

 glass cage. The front, sides, and top should be 

 of glass and the bottom and back of wood, covered 

 inside with tin so that the occupant cannot gnaw 

 his way through. Inside of this cage we may 

 arrange what accessories we wish and place our 

 captive. At first he will be very wild, and we 

 shall be able to do nothing with him ; but after a 

 while, as he becomes somewhat better acquainted 

 with his surroundings, he will quiet down and 

 will assume the attitudes we wish. 



In order to escape reflection on the glass the 

 cage should be so placed that the sun's rays strike 

 it full, and even then it is best not to use a black 

 background. 



If there is the least possibility of our being 

 able to do so, it is always desirable to at least 

 attempt the photographing of even these small 

 mammals wild and in their native haunts, as both 



