Photo by George Shiras, 3rd 



ve:ry fkw persons suspi:ct the: abundance of night-loving animals in the 



vicinity 01^ country homes 



"I have set out every winter for several years past a camera and flashlight in the town 

 of Ormond Beach, Florida, within 100 yards of a dozen cottages and a great winter hotel 

 harboring a thousand people. During 33 nights the negatives showed 12 skunks, nine of 

 which were of different markings; four coons, three opossums, one cat, one pointer dog, 

 two rabbits, and four wood-rats; yet neither the visitors, natives, nor caretakers in this 

 vicinity ever encountered any of these animals, and only the roar of the flashlight and the 

 ever-increasing pictures carried conviction" (see text, pages 804 and 805), 



my purposes, I entered the north end of 

 the park in July, 1908, accompanied by 

 my Michigan guide and another, then a 

 resident of IMontana. Wishing to avoid 

 dependence upon a pack-train in the 

 mountains and believing from inquiry 

 that the Upper Yellowstone was navi- 

 gable for a light boat in early summer, I 

 brought along a large collapsible canvas 

 canoe, capable of carrying three persons 

 and more than a thousand-pound outfit. 

 Traversing the entire length of Yel- 

 lowstone Lake in a gasoline launch, we 

 entered the long southeast arm on the 

 afternoon of July 23. Well within the 

 entrance, a couple of low rocky islands 

 shone white with breeding pelicans, gulls, 

 and terns (see page 820). Heretofore 

 no one seemed to know whether the 

 white pelican bred on the lake or not. 



for, strange as it may seem, our launch 

 was the first to enter the southern cor- 

 ner of the lake in more than ten years. 



THE ALMOST UNKNOWN UPPER 

 YELLOWSTONE VALLEY 



During this and subsequent investiga- 

 tions the writer became and continues 

 strong in the belief that the lower part 

 of the lake and the valley of the Upper 

 Yellowstone constitute one of the wild- 

 est and least frequented districts in the 

 United States, especially when taking 

 into consideration its accessibility, its 

 wonderful beauty, and the entire absence 

 of hunters, trappers, tourists, or camp- 

 ing parties of any kind. Yellowstone 

 Lake is perhaps the largest body of fresh 

 water at that altitude (7,741 feet) in 

 the world : and v/hile its northwestern 



809 



