238 THE STORY OF A BIRD LOVER 



though their presence was evident, and the only 

 sure way to accomplish this was by a long visit on 

 some bright moonlight night. Then, the watcher, 

 sitting absolutely quiet on the bank, would see 

 numbers of beavers appear and proceed with their 

 ordinary avocations, but they were so alert that 

 the slightest motion or noise on the part of the 

 observer was at once perceived and caused the 

 animals to retire, when it was useless to wait for 

 their return. 



Skunks of three kinds were numerous ; and I 

 have spoken of coyotes. There were many foxes 

 and wildcats, and the mountain-lion or panther 

 was by no means unusual. I have seen all of 

 these animals alive many times, and have killed 

 representatives of most of them. One of the 

 prettiest wild creatures of the region was a little 

 beast known to the natives as the civet cat; it 

 was twice as large as a gray squirrel, with beauti- 

 ful fur, a foxlike head, large, intelligent eyes, and 

 a bushy banded tail of white and brown that made 

 a fine contrast to its silky fur. It was nocturnal 

 in habit, and was to be obtained only by trapping, 

 or by searching in caves or hollow trees where it 

 slept during the day. 



The bears spoken of were the cinnamon 

 variety, much larger than our black bear of the 

 East, and known generally to the natives as 

 " grizzHes." One that I killed in the Finals was 



