How Animals Talk 



incident was soon forgotten. I fitever saw the 

 canoemen again, but I saw one of the moose. A 

 few days later, in passing through the woods on 

 that side of the lake, I found the calf stretched out 

 dead where he had fallen, not fifty yards from the 

 water's edge. 



Perhaps another "don't" should here be mem- 

 orized for the happy occasion when you find a 

 fawn or a little cub in the woods, and are moved 

 most kindly to pet him. If the mother is half- 

 tame, or has lived near a clearing long enough to 

 lose distrust of the man-scent, it may do no harm 

 to treat her fawn or cub as you would a puppy; 

 but to handle any wild little creature is to do him 

 an injury. Until a fawn is strong enough to travel 

 the rough country in which he was born, the doe 

 often leaves him hidden in the woods, where he lies 

 so close and still that you may pass without seeing 

 him. Once you discover him, however, and he 

 knows that he is seen, his beautiful eyes begin to 

 question you with a great wonder. He has no 

 fear of you whatever (this while he is very young, 

 or before he begins to follow his mother) ; he will 

 sometimes follow you when you go away, and he 

 is such a lovable creature, so innocent and so 

 appealing, that it is hard to keep your hands from 

 him. Let him sniff your palm if he will, or lick 

 it with his rough tongue for the faint taste of salt ; 



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