Boy Scouts Handbook Part 37

[Ill.u.s.tration: Gray Squirrel]

Opossum (_Didelphis marsupialis_)

The opossum is famous for carrying its young in a pouch in front of the body. It may be known by its dirty-white woolly fur, its long, naked, prehensile tail, its hand-like paws, its white face and sharp muzzle, and the naked pink and blue ears. In size it resembles a cat.

The 'possum is found from Connecticut to Florida and westerly to California.

Gray-squirrel (_Sciurus carolinensis_)

America is particularly rich in squirrels. Not counting ground-squirrels or chipmunks, we have over seventy-five different forms on this continent. The widest spread is probably the red-squirrel; but the best known in the United States is the common gray-squirrel. Its gray coat white breast, and immense {142} bushy tail are familiar to all eastern children. It is found in most of the hardwood timber east of the Mississippi and south of the Ottawa River and the State of Maine. Most of the nut trees in the woods of this region were planted by the gray-squirrel.

Black Bear (_Ursus america.n.u.s_)

This is the common bear of America. It is known at once by its jet black color and brown nose. Its claws are short, rarely over an inch long, and curved, serving better as climbers than do the long claws of the grizzly. Two hundred pounds would be a good sized female, three hundred a male; but Florida black bears have been taken weighing five hundred pounds. Sometimes freaks with cinnamon-brown coats are found.

This bear is found throughout North America wherever there is timber.

NOTES

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Notes

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Notes

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CHAPTER III

CAMPCRAFT (In treating of camping there has been an intentional omission of the long-term camp. This is treated extensively in the books of reference given at the close of this chapter.)

Hiking and Over-night Camp _By H. W. Gibson, Boys' Work Secretary, Young Men's Christian a.s.sociation Ma.s.sachusetts and Rhode Island_

Several things should be remembered when going on a hike: First, avoid long distances. A foot-weary, muscle-tired and temper-tried, hungry group of boys is surely not desirable. There are a lot of false notions about courage and bravery and grit that read well in print, but fail miserably in practice, and long hikes for boys is one of the most glaring of these notions. Second, have a leader who will set a good easy pace, say two or three miles an hour, prevent the boys from excessive water drinking, and a.s.sign the duties of pitching camp, etc.

Third, observe these two rules given by an old woodsman: (1) Never walk over anything you can walk around; (2) never step on anything that you can step over. Every time you step on anything you lift the weight of your body. Why lift extra weight when tramping? Fourth, carry with you only the things absolutely needed, rolled in blankets, poncho army style.

Before starting on a hike, study carefully the road maps, and take them with you on the walk for frequent reference. The best maps are those of the United States Geological Survey, costing five cents each.

The map is published in atlas sheets, each sheet representing a small, quadrangular district. Send to the superintendent of doc.u.ments at Washington, D. C., for a list.

For tramping the boy needs the right kind of a shoe, or the trip will be a miserable failure. A light-soled or a light-built shoe is not suited for mountain work or even for an ordinary hike. The feet will blister and become "road weary." The shoe must be neither too big, too small, nor too heavy, and be amply broad to give the toes plenty of room. The shoe should be water-tight. A medium weight, high-topped lace shoe is about right. Bathing the feet at the springs and streams along the road will be refreshing, if not indulged in too frequently.

{146} See Chapter on "Health and Endurance" for care of the feet and proper way of walking.

It is well to carry a spare shirt hanging down the back with the sleeves tied around the neck. Change when the shirt you are wearing becomes too wet with perspiration.

The most practical and inexpensive pack is the one made for the Boy Scouts of America. (Price 60 cents.) It is about 14 x 20 inches square, and 6 inches thick, made of water-proof canvas with shoulder-straps, and will easily hold everything needed for a tramping trip.

A few simple remedies for bruises, cuts, etc., should be taken along by the leader. You may not need them and some may poke fun at them, but, as the old lady said, "You can't always sometimes tell." The amount and kind of provisions must be determined by the locality and habitation.

The Lean-to

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 1. Frame of lean-to]

Reach the place where you are going to spend the night in plenty of time to build your lean-to, and make your bed for {147} the night.

Select your camping spot with reference to water, wood, drainage, and material for your lean-to. Choose a dry, level place, the ground just sloping enough to insure the water running away from your lean-to in case of rain. In building your lean-to look for a couple of good trees standing from eight to ten feet apart with branches from six to eight feet above the ground. By studying the ill.u.s.tration (No. 1) you will be able to build a very serviceable shack, affording protection from the dews and rain. While two or more boys are building the shack, another should be gathering firewood and preparing the meal, while another should be cutting and bringing in as many soft, thick tips of trees as possible, for the roof of the shack and the beds.

How to thatch the lean-to is shown in ill.u.s.tration No. 2. If the camp site is to be used for several days, two lean-tos may be built facing each other, about six feet apart. This will make a very comfortable camp, as a small fire can be built between the two thus giving warmth and light.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 2. Method of thatching]

The Bed

On the floor of your lean-to lay a thick layer of the fans or branches of a balsam or hemlock, with the convex side up, and the b.u.t.ts of the stems toward the foot of the bed. Now thatch this over with more fans by thrusting the b.u.t.t ends through the first layer at a slight angle toward the head of the bed, so that the soft tips will curve toward the foot of the bed, and be sure to make the head of your bed away from the opening of the lean-to and the foot toward the opening. Over this bed spread your rubber blankets or ponchos with rubber side down, your sleeping blanket on top, and you will be surprised how soft, springy, and fragrant a bed you have, upon which to rest your "weary frame" and sing with the poet:

"Then the pine boughs croon me a lullaby, And trickle the white moonbeams To my face on the balsam where I lie While the owl hoots at my dreams."

--_J. George Frederick_.

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Hot-Stone Wrinkle

If the night bids fair to be cold, place a number of stones about six or eight inches in diameter near the fire, so that they will get hot.

These can then be placed at the feet, back, etc., as needed, and will be found good "bed warmers." When a stone loses its heat, it is replaced near the fire and a hot one taken. If too hot, wrap the stone in a shirt or sweater or wait for it to cool off.

Boys desire adventure. This desire may be gratified by the establishment of night watchers in relays of two boys each, every two hours. Their imaginations will be stirred by the resistless attraction of the camp-fire and the sound of the creatures that creep at night.

Observation Practice

Many boys have excellent eyes, but see not, and good ears but hear not, all because they have not been trained to observe or to hear quickly. A good method of teaching observation while on a hike or tramp is to have each boy jot down in a small note-book or diary of the trip, the different kinds of trees, birds, animals, tracks, nature of roads, fences, peculiar rock formation, smells of plants, etc., and thus be able to tell what he saw or heard to the boys upon his return to the permanent camp or to his home.