I'lioto by George Shiras, 3rd 



COON S I^INAI, Mi^AI, 



Whether the scarcity of the corn, the flashlight, or the sudden appearing of skunks drove 

 the coons away, is uncertain (see page 790) 



tober 7 a small tent was set up in a grove 

 of poplars, where many white and tooth- 

 scored trunks showed the recent work of 

 the beaver. The dam had been com- 

 pleted months before, the lodge was 

 about ready for use, and the animals 

 were concerned with their final labor in 

 storing away in the deeper waters near 

 their home an ample supply of poplar 

 and birch. 



My plan of operations, decided upon 

 in advance, combined two distinct meth- 

 ods of getting a picture, and neither 

 available on the same night; so it meant 



camping two days in this little valley. 

 My first scheme was to set up the cam- 

 eras and the flashlight apparatus opposite 

 the lodge, with the expectation that when 

 a beaver clambered out of the water for 

 the purpose of plastering mud on the 

 side of his house the string placed at the 

 edge of the water would be touched and 

 the flash fired. On page 8oi appears the 

 photographic outfit, placed 12 feet in 

 front of the beaver house. 



The second plan for the succeeding 

 night consisted in making a small breach 

 in the dam, so when one of the old beav- 



708 



