78 NATURE AND THE CAMERA 



attachment can only be used with a time exposure. 

 Absolutely safe plate-holders are more important in 

 wild-animal work than in any other, as, owing to the 

 varying conditions, the roughness of the country in 

 which the work is usually done, the length of time 

 that a plate has to be ready for use with the slide 

 drawn, and the difficulties of guarding against possible 

 danger of having the plate struck by light by pro- 

 tecting the camera with a black cloth, the plate- 

 holder is subjected to the most severe tests. 



It is impossible to give precise instruction for photo- 

 graphing animals; each species is so different in its 

 characteristics that what would be true of one kind 

 might be absolutely untrue of another. Not only does- 

 each species require particular treatment, but fre- 

 quently individuals of the same species are so entirely 

 peculiar in their habits as to require entirely different 

 methods. Sometimes we find squirrels that will 

 pick up a nut when thrown to them, and sit down 

 to eat it while we secure the picture, while others 

 will scamper off and on no account allow themselves 

 to be photographed. Still more noticeable is the in- 

 dividuality of any of the deer family. I have seen a 

 two-year-old bull moose, after making a wild dash 

 away from the canoe, come back and begin feeding 

 within forty feet of us, remaining thus for ten min- 

 utes or more while I made a number of exposures. 

 We were in plain view all the time, and the wind 



