Ernest Thompson Seton was an artist, naturalist and founder of the Woodcraft Indians, a youth organisation that inspired the Scout Movement. Born in South Shields, Seton’s family emigrated to Canada in 1866, settling in Toronto. Seton had an unhappy childhood, often retreating to the countryside where he studied and drew local wildlife in order to avoid his abusive father.

Upon reaching adulthood, he joined his brother on a homestead in Manitoba where he was able to begin writing on natural history. In 1891, he published a history of the birds of Manitoba. The book resulted in Seton’s appointment as Provincial Naturalist by the Manitoba government. He continued to publish books on the natural history of the province, including this work on mammals, printed in 1910.