viii FAMILIAR LIFE IN FIELD AXD FOREST. 



ject. Regarding Dr. Clinton Hart Merriam's Ani- 

 mals of the Adirondacks, I can only add that I con- 

 sider it a classic, and until some writer shall exceed 

 its simple and attractive presentation of important 

 facts, it must be regarded, as far as it goes, as the 

 best biography of American animals which we to-day 

 possess. 



It should be borne in mind that the times change, 

 a scientific knowledge of animals grows, and the wild 

 creatures themselves shift their position over the 

 land. What was supposed to be uncommon or ex- 

 tinct twenty years ago can not be regarded so to-day. 

 The borders of abandoned farms are constantly — not 

 rarely — invaded by animals who were not supposed 

 to live within miles of the old places. Occasionally 

 an otter, a lynx, a deer, or a bear turns up most un- 

 expectedly, and immediately all the country turns out 

 to hunt the creature down. 



Unfortunately, we haxn no proper appreciation of 

 the inherent good in a wild animal ; one -would think, 

 l)y the way men acted, that it had no right to live. 

 There is no logical reason why we should slay a 

 snake, skunk, fox, weasel or raccoon unless it be- 

 comes a public nuisance and we are compelled to 

 put an end to its depredations. 



There is something satisfactory in the feeling of 

 our own harmlessuess in the presence of some poor 



