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A P^IvORIDA GRAY SQUIRRKI. PULLS ON THE NUT BAIT AT END OE STRING AND TAKES 

 HIS OWN PICTURE IN THE DAYTIME 



"Finally several gray squirrels discovered this feeding place ; so corn and nuts were 

 substituted, the loose end of the string being just long enough to permit the squirrel to rise 

 on its quarters — the most graceful and characteristic pose of this animal" (see text, page 804). 



shore is traversed each summer by more 

 tourists than probably any other moun- 

 tain lake, it has the much greater dis- 

 tinction of being less frequented at the 

 lower end than any similarly attractive 

 body of water. Such a condition is due 

 to the park having been set aside in 1872, 

 and with no big-game hunters coming 

 over the mountains to the southern 

 boundary, because the same game can 

 be found lower down and because the 

 State of Wyoming has lately turned the 

 adjoining National forests into a per- 

 petual refuge, and with no hunters pass- 

 ing either way through the valley, this 

 area has lapsed into a perfectly untrod- 

 den wilderness. 



An occasional government scout fol- 

 lows a blazed pony trail on thi eastern 

 foothills of the valley, but they remain 

 mostly out of sight of the timbered bot- 

 tom lands teeming with unseen and un- 

 counted game. 



As there are none of the more spectac- 

 ular manifestations of nature so abun- 

 dant elsewhere in the park, the induce- 

 ment is lacking for diverting into this 

 distant corner the great flood of tourists 

 which annually sweeps in a circular jour- 

 ney in and out of the park. 



Camping the first night in a little bay 

 on a small promontory facing the broad 

 delta of the Yellowstone, the canvas 

 boat was set up and further strength- 

 ened by hardwood strips cut for the pur- 

 pose. As the sun descended and the 

 winds fell, hundreds of cow elk and 

 calves sauntered down from the lower 

 hills to feed on the swamp grass of the 

 valley; but not an adult bull was seen 

 then or during the entire trip, as they 

 prefer to remain secluded in the highest 

 timber during the midsummer period of 

 horn growth. 



In the morning a little time was lost 

 trying to find the real mouth of the Yel- 



810 



