Photo by George Shiras, 3rd 



TRKK TRUNKS SKMIGIRDI.e:d BY P0RCUPIN:ES 



The author's more recent investigations sustain the 

 theory that the porcupine avoids kiUing mature trees 

 by eating all the bark about the base. It took the ani- 

 mal three days to eat the bark on the above tree, and 

 then it went to the adjoining one, where it was equally 

 careful in removing the bark. Note how the inner 

 wood shows the broad teeth-marks of the animal (see 

 page 781). 



dark waters or coming through the 

 woods, it bounds off snorting or quietly 

 skulks away before one gets within 

 range. 



This form of night photography, there- 

 fore, in addition to being a bloodless 

 sport, has doubtless saved the lives of 

 many deer that otherwise would have 

 fallen before the deadly gun of the 

 numerous headlight hunters. On several 

 occasions I heard some of these chaps 



complaining about the difficulty 

 of getting within gunshot of deer 

 in the neighborhood of White 

 Fish Lake ; but the reason for 

 this was never explained to them. 



Finally, when most of the deer 

 near camp became sophisticated 

 and would not tolerate a jack- 

 light, and again because there 

 were times when the full moon 

 rendered the artificial light use- 

 less, or because deer often fed in 

 localities not accessible by canoe, 

 I concluded to put the flashlight 

 out after dark in the hope that it 

 would prove as successful as the 

 set camera in the daytime. 



With but very little change in 

 the hand flashlight, it was con- 

 verted into an automatic one, 

 and so adjusted that the slight- 

 est pull of a string would fire 

 the flash, the shutter opening 

 and closing simultaneously (see 

 page "jy2'). This was the begin- 

 ning of the automatic flashlight 

 and led to a much more diversi- 

 fied use of the camera at night. 



A dke^r that took its own 



PICTURE A DOZEN TIMES 



Perhaps the most interesting 

 experiment I have made with a 

 set camera occurred when I en- 

 deavored to get a series of pic- 

 tures of the same deer — an ef- 

 fort that was accomplished un- 

 der conditions favoring the trial. 

 On a stream not far above camp 

 an old doe was in the habit of 

 coming to the water nearly every 

 night to feed upon a succulent 

 form of water grass growing at 

 that point. It would not stand 

 the jack-light and rarely ap- 

 peared before d:,rk. 

 So, clearing space in the alders and 

 throwing out some cabbage leaves and 

 turnips, well sprinkled with salt, it was 

 not long before their disappearance and 

 the clear-cut hoof tracks explained the 

 reason. Then an empty, well-weathered 

 box, with a hinged lid, was placed on a 

 log, and there it remained until the deer 

 fed without suspicion. Cutting a round 

 hole in the box, the camera was placed 

 therein and a string from the flashlight 



n^ 



