At Close Range 



wild on a windy day: the constant motion of 

 leaves or tossing boughs breeds confusion in their 

 eyes, and the woodsy smells are so broken by cross- 

 currents that they cannot be traced to their source. 

 So it has happened more than once on a gusty day 

 that a deer, catching my scent on the rebound, has 

 whirled and rushed straight at me, producing the 

 momentary illusion that he was charging. 



With a steady but not strong wind blowing in 

 their direction, I have seen deer become alarmed 

 while I was yet a quarter-mile away; this on a 

 lake, where there was nothing to interfere with 

 the breeze or the scent. On the burnt lands or 

 the open barrens I have seen bear and caribou 

 throw up their heads and break away while I was 

 even farther removed. In a light breeze the dis- 

 tance is much shorter, varying from fifty to two 

 hundred yards, according to the amount of moist- 

 ure in the air. On days that are still or very dry, 

 or when the air is filled with smoke from a forest 

 fire (the latter soon inflames all sensitive nostrils), 

 the animals are at sea again, and depend less on 

 their noses than on their eyes or ears. 



Another surprising thing is, that the animal's 

 ability to detect you through his sense of smell 

 is largely governed by your own activity or bod- 

 ily condition. Thus, when a man is perspiring 

 freely or moving quickly, his scent is stronger and 



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