WAITING IN THE WILDERNESS 35 



me. Occasionally his nostrils twitched a little, but 

 at no time did he look upon me with fear or sus- 

 picion. Soon sounded a whack from the near-by bea- 

 ver pond, as if a beaver had dived, and a second 

 later came muffled footfalls through the forest from 

 the opposite quarter. These alarms caused Mr. 

 Coyote to leap up all alert, and presently he 

 hastened away among the shadows. 



A number of deer came to visit the place. After 

 eying me closely from a distance of thirty or forty 

 feet they lingered to look round and to take an 

 occasional bite to eat. They were curious about 

 me, but were perfectly at ease, for they had not 

 scented me. Another day three deer, which had 

 not seen me, suddenly caught scent of me and were 

 off instantly. Most animals rely upon their noses 

 for chief scout duty to tell them when to flee for 

 safety. Deer, beavers, and sometimes other ani- 

 mals which saw me without scenting me, simply 

 took a brief look then continued their affairs in a 

 normal manner; but usually when they scented me 

 before seeing me they were alarmed and thought 

 that "safety first" required speed. 



A mother grouse and her family of youngsters 

 came along while I was sitting on a log. I kept 

 perfectly still. One of the youngsters jumped 

 up on the log and started toward me. Two or 

 three walked close to me, and some of the others 

 passed between my legs and the log. Evidently 

 they took me for a bump or a stump. The mother 



