the other end points in the direction the deer has taken. Sometimes you
will find deer tracks with the toes spread wide apart. That means the
animal has been running. All animals' toes spread more or less when they
run. A bear track is like Fig. 11, but a large bear often leaves other
evidences of his presence than his footprints. He will frequently turn a
big log over or tear one open in his search for ants. He will stand on
his hind legs and gnaw a hole in a dead tree or tall stump, and a
bee-tree will bear the marks of his climbing on its trunk. It is
interesting to find a tree with the scars of bruin's feet, made
prominent by small knobs where his claws have sunk into the bark. Each
scar swells and stands out like one of his toes. When you see bark
scraped off the trees some distance from the ground, you may be sure
that a horned animal has passed that way. Where the trees are not far
apart a wide-horned animal, like the bull moose, scrapes the bark with
his antlers as he passes.

[Illustration: Footprints of animals.

1 Caribou

2 Mink

3 Red Squirrel

4 Fore foot of Muskrat, Hind foot of Muskrat, Tail of Muskrat

5 Fisher

6 Canada Lynx]

The cat-like lynx leaves a cat-like track (Fig. 6), which shows no print
of the claws, and the mink's track is like Fig. 2. Rabbits' tracks are
two large oblongs, then two almost round marks. The oblongs are the
print of the large hind feet, which, with the peculiar gait of the
rabbit, always come first. The large, hind-feet tracks point the
direction the animal has taken. Fig. 1 is the track of the caribou, and
shows the print of the dew-claws, which are the two little toes up high
at the back of the foot. It is when the earth is soft and the foot sinks
in deeply that the dew-claws leave a print, or perhaps when the foot
spreads wide in running.

[Illustration: Footprints of animals.

7 Doe

8 Wolf

9 Fox

10 Buck

11 Bear

12 Sheep]

Fig. 3 is the print of the foot of a red squirrel. Fig. 5 is the
fisher's track, and Fig. 12 is that of a sheep. Pig tracks are much like
those of sheep, but wider. When you have learned to recognize the
varying freshness of tracks you will know how far ahead the animal
probably is. Other tracks you will learn as you become more familiar
with the animals, and you will also be able to identify the tracks of
the wild birds.




CHAPTER II

WOODCRAFT

=Trees. Practical Use of Compass. Direction of Wind. Star Guiding. What
to Do When Lost in the Woods. How to Chop Wood. How to Fell Trees.=


=Trees=

While on the trail you will find a knowledge of trees most useful, and
you should be able to recognize different species by their manner of
growth, their bark and foliage.


=Balsam-Fir=

One of the most important trees for the trailer to know is the
balsam-fir, for of this the best of outdoor beds are made. In shape the
tree is like our Christmas-trees--in fact, many Christmas-trees are
balsam-fir.

The sweet, aromatic perfume of the balsam needles is a great aid in
identifying it. The branches are flat and the needles appear to grow
from the sides of the stem. The little twist at the base of the needle
causes it to seem to grow merely in the straight, outstanding row on
each side of the stem; look closely and you will see the twist.

The needles are flat and short, hardly one inch in length; they are
grooved along the top and the ends are decidedly blunt; in color they
are dark bluish-green on the upper side and silvery-white underneath.
The bark is gray, and you will find little gummy blisters on the
tree-trunk. From these the healing Canada balsam is obtained. The short
cones, often not over two inches in length, the longest seldom more than