THE WILD LIFE OF LAKE SUPERIOR 



189 



periods of disuse. On 

 returning, there was 

 varied evidence of 

 of many woodland 

 visitors, for here, in a 

 sunny spot, would be 

 the daily dusting place 

 of the grouse ; every- 

 where were the hoof- 

 prints of deer and oc- 

 casionally the dog-like 

 tracks of a skulking 

 wolf, unafraid of a 

 hunter's cabin when a 

 fresh trail of a deer 

 gave assurance of a 

 long-absent owner. 



There were door- 

 sills and pork barrels 

 gnawed by the saline- 

 seeking porcupine ; 

 the broken branches 

 of a mountain ash 

 where Bruin leisurely 

 pulled down red clus- 

 ters of frost-sweet- 

 ened berries ; the ten- 

 der saplings girdled 

 by a varying hare ; 

 clover and dandelions 

 cropped close by bulky woodchucks ; the 

 pungent odor of a skunk beneath the 

 cabin floor, and tracks of the great blue 

 heron, mink, muskrat, and the beaver 

 on the sand-bars of the creek flowing 

 through the camp lot. 



STUDIES IN ANIMAL PSYCHOLOGY 



Perhaps the first night there would be 

 a chorus of indignant owls within the 

 glare of the camp-fire or the startled 

 snort of an approaching deer. Then all 

 would change. For the circling smoke, 

 the heavy blows of the axe upon the hard- 

 wood logs, human voices, and the telltale 

 scent gave distant warning of the enemy's 

 return. 



Except for the twittering of the chip- 

 munk, the tattoo of the woodpeckers, and 

 the flight of cedar birds and blue jays 

 across the clearing, or the scamperings 

 of the white-footed mice upon the cabin 

 floor, all the more timid birds and ani- 

 mals would disappear. 



The difference between the time when 

 there was neither a habitation nor a rail- 



Photograph from George Shiras, 3d 

 A BEAVER EYEING THE OUTFIT WITH SUSPICION 



Sometimes the thread, as above, runs to the base of the tree, show- 

 ing the beaver making a preliminary circle before starting to work ; 

 in other cases the thread is attached just below the cutting, pictur- 

 ing the animal erect (see page 178). 



road within twenty miles (see page 124) 

 and when a more accessible camp was 

 enlarged and a caretaker continuously in 

 charge affords one of the most interesting 

 chapters in animal psychology within the 

 writer's experience. 



It might well be supposed the eviction 

 of forest visitors was final when the place 

 was occupied by day and night, with all 

 the noise and bustle of a woodland home, 

 for the chorus of barnyard fowls, the 

 neighing of horses, the lowing and the 

 tinkling bells of browsing cattle, the chug 

 of an engine filling the garden tank, the 

 circling smoke, and the glittering lights 

 seen afar each night gave ample notice to 

 every living thing that man had invaded 

 their domain and intended to abide 

 therein throughout the year. 



THE CAMP BECOMES A RENDEZVOUS 

 FOREST POLK 



POR 



But just the contrary happened. The 

 deer soon found that their ancient enemy 

 preferred a camera to the gun, and, freed 

 from the terror of prowling wolves, took 



