78 



RECREATION. 



the picture was taken, and who was acting 

 as guide for the party. Mr. Hedges en- 

 closed a letter from Mr. Goding, and I 

 printed it in April Recreation. From this 

 I quote: "You want to know if Mr. Balch 

 photographed those beavers. He did. I 

 was present when Mr. Balch pulled the 

 string on the beavers, and I helped fix 

 the camera. The beavers were alive when 

 the picture was taken." Later I received 

 a letter from John H. Walker, Ashland, 

 Me., who says he was also with Balch 

 and Bishop, and was acting as guide. 



Subsequently a reader of Recreation 

 propounded a series of questions to Mr. 

 Balch, as to the manner of making the 

 beaver picture, the material used, etc. 

 These questions and Mr. Balch's answers 

 were printed in June Recreation. In 

 answer to question No. 5 Mr. Balch says, 

 "My companions, Mr. Bishop and the 2 

 guides, went with me part way to where 

 I had the camera set up the second day, 

 and I had an understanding with them 

 that they were not to come near enough to 

 the beaver pond to frighten the beavers, 

 but were to keep within calling distance 

 of me. * * * * I then called to my 

 companions. Harry Goding was the first 

 one to come up. We then joined the 

 others at the pond, and went to the 

 camera." 



It is strange that Mr. Balch did not 

 mention in one of his early letters the 

 fact that he had 3 companions with him. 

 He gave me to understand that Mr. 

 Bishop was the only person with him. It 

 would seem that Mr. Balch should have 

 been glad to furnish 3 witnesses to the 

 validity of the pictures instead of one. 

 The question naturally arises in my mind: 

 Was Mr. Balch afraid the guides would 

 not give favorable testimony? Of course, 

 after having heard from the guides to the 

 effect that they would testify in his fa- 

 vor, he would naturally be glad to put 

 them on record. 



Mr. Goding says he was present when 

 Mr. Balch pulled the string. Mr. Balch 

 says none of his companions were in sight 

 when the beavers appeared, and that he 

 requested them not to come near enough 

 to the pond to frighten the beavers, but 

 to remain within call. He says they hoped 

 to get a shot at a moose or a deer while he 

 was waiting for the beavers. I subsequently 

 wrote Mr. Balch: "The judges have made 

 the following criticism on your beaver 

 picture: 'The beaver on the left is ap- 

 parently beginning work on a tree at a 

 point about 6 inches higher than the other 

 stumps around him. There is something 

 across his left fore foot that looks like a 

 string. Is it a string? If not, what is it? 

 His body does not look the right shape 

 for an animal standing up, as he is. His 



entrails would naturally settle down, and 

 he would be larger about the flanK than 

 he now appears.'-" 



To this Mr. Balch replies: "I don't 

 know what to say as to the shape of the 

 beaver that is standing. * * * * As to 

 what it is that looks like a string across 

 the foot, you may be able to make out on 

 the negative, which I send herewith. I 

 can not say what it is. It may be a twig." 



These answers are not satisfactory to 

 those of us who are studying this matter 

 carefully. These things are knowable. As 

 to the shape of the beaver, the inference is 

 that he had been killed some hours before 

 the picture was made, and had become 

 rigid, so that when placed on his haunches 

 his entrails would remain in the same 

 position as when lying dead on his side. 

 If the white mark across the beaver's foot 

 or fore arm is caused by a twig, why does 

 it not show above or below the fore arm 

 or both? As you know, the camera does 

 not falsify anything unless the photogra- 

 pher manipulates the subject in some way. 



One of my correspondents, a well 

 known naturalist, and ex-mayor of Lan- 

 sing, Mich., calls attention to the fact 

 that the beaver in the right of the picture 

 has his hind foot spread out so as to 

 show the web, and that he is grasping with 

 this foot a pole which lies beside him. 

 This writer asks why the beaver should 

 have placed his foot out from under his 

 body in walking or even in standing; why 

 he should have spread the toes so far out, 

 if for any reason he did reach out to grasp 

 the pole. Anyone familiar with beavers 

 will tell you they always walk on land 

 with their toes close together. They 

 spread them in swimming, but not in 

 walking. The inference is that Mr. Balch 

 in posing this beaver made the mistake of 

 spreading its foot out, and that he hoped 

 thereby to convince those who might see 

 the picture that the beaver was alive. 



One of the most skillful and scientific 

 photographers in the United States, a man 

 who has i>een photographing live animals 

 and birds for the past 15 years, calls atten- 

 tion to the fact that no shadows are cast 

 across the foreground or background of 

 the picture by the standing trees. This, 

 of course, proves beyond all question that 

 the picture was made either on a cloudy 

 day or after sundown. 



The same critic calls attention to the 

 fact that the immediate foreground and 

 the extreme background are equally 

 sharp. This proves beyond question that 

 a small stop was used, and that would 

 necessitate a longer exposure, in order to 

 get the fine detail shown in this picture. 

 The beavers were, of course, constantly 

 in motion. They could not be expected to 

 remain quiet 3 or 4 seconds in order to 

 give the photographer a time exposure. 



