A Ranger stopped one morning in the deep woods that border the Paradise Trail to rest. His pack was heavy and he was tired. The sunny side of a mossy log invited him to sit down and he soon fell asleep, only to be frightened into wakefulness a few minutes later by an over-friendly bird fluttering into his face. Gray Jay again. Still you cannot help but admire the trim little scamps in spite of their insatiable curiosity and their boldness.
Few birds are more friendly and none are so absolutely fearless.
The charges consisted of about five pounds each of T.N.T. placed in a notch on top of the dead logs and covered with a mound of packed snow. They made a fearful noise there among the silent hills. Several Gray Jays that had been attracted by the remains of our noonday lunch were perched upon the telephone wire not twenty feet away when we set fire to the fuses and hastily departed. When we returned the wires were still vibrating from the force of the explosion but the jays were still on them. We marveled that they were not killed outright and still more that they did not seem to be in the least frightened or even excited although Steller Jays for a mile around chattered hysterically for an hour.