Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-09
A DAY IN THE WOODS
WHEN THE SNOW WAS STILL ON
THE GROUND.
The Advantage of Keeping Ones Eyes
DEMONSTRATING Nature and
Animal Life. si26
Written for The Evening Star

Written for The Evening Star.
One night last week / found myself at a
neat New Hampshire farm house. which
stands on the border of a forest which L
expected to explore on the following day.
The country was lew to me. and had
arranged for guide to take me where 1
wished to 60. 1 arose at daylight. to hear
robins, bluebirds and red-winged black
birds calling across the brown fields. and
by the time the sun up l had had
breakfast and was ready for the start.
There still plenty Of snow in the
woods and on the hills, so We slung
snowshoes on our backs and set out. The
air was just frosty enough to be bracing:
1t was the kind Of morning the New Eng
land farmer chooses for the first tapping
of the sugar naples. And sure enough.
as we passed the farm houses set far apart
along the road we saw that the sugaring
mad begun. Into the trunks of the big
leafiess naples, row of which grew In
front of nearly every house, one or more
sugar holes had been bored, and into each
hole a wooden tap had been driven, and
below each tap there hung from metal
hook shining tin bucket, into which tho
sap. clear as distilled water. fell with a
ting ting-ting for as yet there was but
little in the buckets.
But presently We came to the point where
we were to enter the forest and here We
knelt to put on our snowshoes. Ny guide,
with a skill born OF long practice. twisted
the long elkhide thongs about his feet and
ankles. and was ready before l had one
shoe fairly adjusted He was a rather
marka hle-looking man. short of stature,
but with well-knit frame. broad Shout
dered and muscular His face was dark as
an Indians, and from beneath pair Of
| black, shaggy eyebrows two small, keen
| eyes looked out past a nose which some
how suggested the bill of a hawk. He
wore a suit which matched the color of
nd ha uyhi Ian
which still hung shvering the trees.
| Like the wild things which he had spent
so many years in hunting. he blended with
his surroundings perfectly.
Nothing Escaped Him.
| AS We walked along in silence, he was as
| interesting to me any other inhabitant of
| the forest Nothing pertaining to the ami
| NAL life about us did he seem to miss. His
| eyes were everywhere. on the sky, in the
| trees and on the ground and he not only
saw things. but he knew what they meant.
His ears. too were wonderfully acute. and
not only sorted out the different sounds
which came to US. but told the distance and
direction OF each.
We had been walking perhaps ten min
| utcs. when he said, Hist" and following
| the direction of his eyes. ! saw on a hili-
| Side above us deer quietly browsing at a
! patch of brown grass which the sun had
cleared of snow. 1t was quite unconscious
| of presence as we stood there, but as
We started forward again it caught the
sound and raising its pretty head, started
straight at For just a moment we saw
| the full face. with the long ears standing
| OUT on either side like the wings of a but
| terfiy. The next instant it wheeled and
! sprang away up the hill, its broad white
! tail in the air. Barring its path was a
| clump of bushes. at least five feet high
| they looked from where 1 stood. but. turn
ing neither to the right the left the
| 1.-THE creature simply rose in a graceful arc
,fc, i'll .f.~l,s
done. On reaching a safe distance the deer
stopped. turned round and looked at Us
again for a moment. and then, with
scornful nirt of the tall trotted into the
woods.
Signs of Deer.
On every hand were signs of deer sonc-
! times well-trodden paths through the snow,
at other times single trail. And my guide
gave each a glance in passing. occasionally
calling attention to some popularity in the
| footprints THAT deer was lame" he
would say, or that track made by a
| last years fawn" On examination the
| truth OF the statement was plain enough,
| but this mans examination consisted of
glance
| Once as were making our way down a
| little valley. the bottom of which was
marked by a foaming pitching torrent.
three large birds flew over head. screaming
| wildly. / asked the guide what they were.
| and he said they were woodpeclSers and
| from his description of the birds 1t
| easy to identify them pileated wood
/ pecllers a species with which l am no.
personally familiar And few minutes
| later / heard one of these big birds ham,
mering a tree, though had We not been
several miles from any dwelling, | should
have thought for moment that it was
carpenter mailing clapboards on a house.
So powerful are these birds that they some
| times cut down large trees in their search
for insects.
Animal Life.
Several times during our tramp we saw
small herds of deer file past through the
trees, and once. far away upon a bare hill
top, we caught sight of a COW moose Now
and then We came upon a porcupine, or
hedgehog" my guide called him, and
we always stopped for a minute to hear
the "porky'' whine his disapprovaI at our
interruption of his meal, and to watch the
clumsy fellow climb little further out of
our reach. Foxes we did not see. but.
judging from their tracks they must have
been plentiful, a fact which doubtless ac-
counted for our seeing but one ruffed
grouse during the whole days tramp.
Speaking of porcupines, / am sorry to learn
that there is bounty OF % cents on them
in New Hampshire. Surely there is no more
fnoffensive creature in the woods IL he Is
left alone, and IL he does thin out a few
trees by eating the bark Off. 1t is very
small matter when compared with even a
very insignificant numbering operation.
Long life to him, he's one of the most cur
ious and interesting of the wood folk in
New England, and for one would be very
sorry to miss him from my walks
With these and few other creatures my
guide and 1 amused ourselves until night
fall. when We trudged homeward past the
sugar houses on the roadside, whence is
sued the smoke of burning wood and the
ERNEST HAROLD RAYNES