PART ONE

_GROUP IV_

THE BEAVER

THE beaver was once distributed to a vast extent all over the globe, but is now found in comparatively few sections of the Old and New Worlds, and nowhere in great abundance. The state of Montana, which until recently had the largest number of them within its boundaries, joined, during 1907, those States where this interesting animal is practically extinct, and the blackening "beaver stumps" along its streams bear witness to the shame of the legislative assembly of 1907, which left the beaver without protection. For the extermination of the beaver in this State the wealthy classes, and not the trappers, must bear the blame, for without the consent of the former the trapper could not even have decreased the number of them without endangering his own liberty.

Where the beaver _is_ protected, he increases rapidly, and if hunted with a rifle, he affords as much excitement as any game that roams the woods.

Business instinct, as well as sportsmanship, should urge sportsmen to concerted action in order to preserve and increase the comparatively few beaver colonies now left on our continent.

The beaver's tracks most strikingly represent the fourth group of mammals in this treatise. In the effort to support and steady the body adequately, the animal endeavors to plant its feet as near as possible under the center of its body, but its corpulency prevents, and the result is a track so ridiculous that it is laughable. The front tracks are covered with the hind feet, the third toenails of which reach the center line, and the heel of which stand, according to the size of the specimen which made the trail, from four to eight inches from it. The nails of the two inside toes of the hind feet are but to a limited extent visible as the web between the toes protrudes them. Where the beaver is scarce and much pursued, the imprint of a forefoot near the water's edge may be discovered occasionally here and there; in this case the prominence of the toenails is unmistakable. I may state here, that a front track at the water's edge is often the only sign which may be found along a stream where beavers have become very wary; they seem to be able to live on almost nothing--leaves, roots, etc.--for not a single cutting can be discovered in such cases. Where not sought extensively, the hunter seldom notes the tracks of this aquatic fur-bearer; cut willows or tree stumps are, if not a surer, at least a more easily distinguished indication of their presence, while on much-used slides the tracks could not be seen anywhere. It has been the writer's experience that in every case in which he observed the building of a new house by one of these animals, the builder was invariably a female providing for a happy family event.

THE BADGER

ON our continent there is no other animal which is responsible for so many broken necks and limbs as the badger. While in pursuit of his prey, he digs holes in the ground, which when grown over with weeds or grass, are almost certain death-traps for the unwary rider.

The man who enjoys riding after wolves or the fox considers the badger as a menace, and is never likely to look upon it with any degree of favor, notwithstanding its decided usefulness as a destroyer of undesirable rodents. I myself bit the dust of the prairie four times within a couple of months on account of this animal, though there was no further damage than a broken gunstock and sore limbs. I have since killed everyone of the tribe when a chance offered, though with some feeling of regret on account of their desirable features.

The track of the badger is striking from the prominence of the five-nail marks of the forefeet and the twisted inward appearance of the hind track which usually stands squarely in the front track. Considering the size of the tracks, the step-marks stand close together--about seven inches--and, as in all animals of this group, to some extent off from the center line.

It is readily tracked down, and when its hole is approached, the animal frequently exhibits its head as a target from its curiosity to see what is coming. If run into a hole, it will almost invariably reappear within a few minutes. If it offers no chance for a shot, a trap placed at the entrance and covered nicely generally brings about its destruction. If no trap is at hand it can be confined to its hole by tying a piece of paper or a rag to a stick and placing it not less than two feet from the entrance, which will prevent its leaving the hole for twenty-four hours or so. This is a surer method of keeping the animal a prisoner than blocking the entrance, and works satisfactorily also with other marauders that take to holes.

A fox can usually be held thus for several days, and by this ruse I have actually starved two of them to death. There was in each case three entrances, and but one trap at hand, which was in both instances uncovered by the prisoners during the first night.

As the ground was frozen hard, I did not wish to bother with setting the trap at another entrance, so I left things as they were, after covering the instrument again. But the foxes knew it was there all the same, and did not again try to leave their prison by that exit, and the other entrances were guarded by that fearful specter of paper. Finally each one died about eight feet from the scarecrow--about five feet inside the hole, which was examined daily--one during the nineteenth, and the other during the twenty-second day of their imprisonment. Had the ground not been frozen so hard as it was, the experiment would have been unsuccessful, as each of the foxes would of course have dug out at some other spot. The latter method of escape will be employed by the badger in every case where the trap is not properly covered.

THE PORCUPINE

IT may appear out of place to discuss this creature which has no sportive quality whatever, but its trail is so conspicuous in snow that it cannot be passed without being noticed, and the tyro, attracted by the size of the tracks, will in many instances follow it, thinking he is on the trail of something else.

A short time ago I trailed a supposedly lost, inexperienced hunting companion who had run across the trail of a "bear," as he thought, and followed and killed "Bruin," who happened to be up a tree. When I caught up with the young fellow, he was contemplating his broken gunstock, smashed in finishing the "varmint," but proudly exhibited, to my great hilarity, the "bear" which may have weighed about twenty pounds, and whose fur consisted mainly of quills.

Before I got acquainted with the "pine-porker," I tried in vain for a period of four months to ascertain the identity of an animal whose tracks I frequently saw on a road. Only the marks of the soles were visible there, and none of the many men I asked knew that track, though they knew the animal which made it very well, as developed later, when tracking conditions became so that I could follow the trail to its end.

If conditions are half-favorable, the imprints of the toenails--four on the forefeet and five on the hind feet--are always visible.

If the snow is a few inches deep, the tracks stand in a trough-shaped trail because the animal's body almost touches the ground. The toes point inward, and almost touch the center line. In the snowless woods numerous small dead trees attract the attention of even those not interested in forestry. If these trees are examined they will reveal the mark of the porcupine, easily recognized by the partly eaten bark.

Along the streams of the Bad Lands the limbs of cottonwood trees are sometimes depleted of every vestige of bark, which loss ultimately causes the death of the trees. Where forests are cared for on an economical basis, the porcupine is certainly a proper subject for extermination.

Their meat is excellent if fried quickly in hot lard; roasted, or cooked slowly, it emits an odor repellent even to a hungry man.

THE SKUNK

THOUGH an inexcusable intruder in the chicken coop and where game birds are raised, the skunk is decidedly useful from the standpoint of the forester or of the farmer. In the writer's opinion, sportsmen if they encounter him in the woods should cease to kill the animal just because it is "only a skunk"; others of the fraternity advance the "just because" argument if they are questioned why they "shoot" the nests of useful hornets. The skunk may rob a few birds' nests during the summer, but his main diet consists of larvæ and berries, and by destroying the former he is of inestimable value to the forests and fields near his residence.

I am thoroughly convinced that his introduction and absolute protection in localities where moths, butterflies and the like, in their undeveloped stage, have become a menace, would greatly help to solve the problem of rendering these pests harmless.

With every skunk we kill we interfere with the balance of nature, and the resulting deficit has finally to be met with the pocketbook by paying for artificial substitutes for nature, which if left alone would do the work much better.

In the summer woods it is not so much the skunk's tracks which tell of his presence and merits, as the numerous small holes in the ground, about a couple of inches deep, from which the animal procures the larvæ there awaiting the final stage of development.

The soles of the skunk's feet are similar to those of the badger, while their size about corresponds with that of the domestic cat; the toenails always show conspicuously under fair tracking conditions.

The individual tracks stand about half as far apart as do those of the domestic cat, and are always considerably out of line. Like the other members of this group, the skunk betrays himself by his trail; he is a slow animal, and presumably would not put on speed if he were capable of it, since, when foraging he is never in a hurry, and if molested it is usually the disturber who prefers to employ speed.