Toung Hunters 



farmer's hen-roosts. Nevertheless the discov- 

 ery of their dens was considered important. 

 No matter how deep the den might be, it was 

 thoroughly explored with pick and shovel by 

 sport-loving settlers at a time when they judged 

 the fox was likely to be at home, but I cannot 

 remember any case in our neighborhood where 

 the fox was actually captured. In one of the 

 dens a mile or two from our farm a lot of 

 prairie chickens were found and some smaller 

 birds. 



Badger dens were far more common than fox 

 dens. One of our fields was named Badger Hill 

 from the number of badger holes in a hill at 

 the end of it, but I cannot remember seeing a 

 single one of the inhabitants. 



On a stormy day in the middle of an unusu- 

 ally severe winter, a black bear, hungry, no 

 doubt, and seeking something to eat, came 

 strolling down through our neighborhood from 

 the northern pine woods. None had been seen 

 here before, and it caused no little excitement 

 and alarm, for the European settlers imagined 

 [ 183] 



