Forest fires are the scourge of the wilderness. Certain years, in the
late spring or during the summer, when the weather has been unusually
dry, a mere spark may start a blazing tornado which will lay utter waste
throughout thousands and thousands of acres of timber.
The carelessness of a trapper throwing a lighted match on the ground.
The thoughtlessness of a traveller going to sleep or breaking camp
without putting out his fire. Lightning striking a tree. An ordinary
piece of glass lying on dry moss and catching the rays of the sun. Any
of these is sufficient to kindle a fire which may burn fiercely for
weeks, reaching the tops of the highest trees, smouldering underground
amidst the roots and the muskeg, reaching over rivers and lakes, blazing
its erratic way through the bush according to the changes of the wind.
In the solitude of the far North, where men are scattered a hundred
miles from one another, no help can be secured to fight the red evil.
Only heavy rain or a complete shift of wind, blowing the flames back
over the already burnt area, may stop the scourge. Meanwhile all
vegetation vanishes and wild animals die.
Beavers, Otters, Mink, Muskrats, that live in the water have a fair
chance of escape, but nearly all the other wild folk fall victim to the
deadly sheet of flames.
Foxes, Badgers, Coyotes, Ground Hogs, Chipmunks, Wolverines, Porcupines,
take refuge in their holes underground where the smoke, curling lazily
down and down, eventually reaches them and smothers them with their
young.
Lynx, Marten, Squirrels, Wild Cats, seek safety in the trees, hiding
either in their holes or on the highest branch they can find until the
flames find them in their lair, or the unbearable heat, scorching them,
unloosens their mad grip and precipitates them into the furnace below.
Wolves, Bears, Caribou, Deer and Moose take to flight. But the great
tragedy is that, in this season, all animals have their young. The
little ones get exhausted in the mad scramble through dense bush and
stifling smoke. They cannot keep pace with the flames. Little by little
they fall back. Then the parents return to them and remain at their side
until it is too late.
A few animals, through sheer luck or by keeping their wits, manage to
escape. Now and then one may find on a sandy point, reaching far out in
a lake, a motley crowd of animals of all breeds, huddled together on the
edge of the water or in the water itself. Perfectly indifferent to one
another, their only thought is to keep away from the flames. The nearer
the latter comes, the further the animals crawl and the deeper they
crouch in the water.
In such cases it is a common occurrence to see a dozen rabbits sitting
solemnly in the water, their heads alone showing. A little further out,
two bear cubs may be grovelling on their bellies like two children at
play on the seashore. While the mother swims about angrily, taking no
notice of a cow-moose and her calf, both motionless in the water ... the
little one standing, the mother lying down, their shoulders completely
covered. A little to one side a Red Fox, a vixen, has carried her young,
one by one, to the edge of the lake. The pups are too young yet to have
sense to crawl in. So the mother has dropped them in the water and,
crouching between them and the shore, keeps them huddled, whimpering and
frightened, safe from the heat and the sparks.
[Illustration: A forest fire]