ECOLOGY 291 



squirrel, four feet long, went springing from tree-top to tree-top with such 

 speed that he seemed to be flying. Then there was silence once more. 



This failure meant many, more hours of stalking. It was not until the 

 next morning, as a matter of fact, that the bison was brought down. 



These instances prove but one thing, that the bison and water buff"alo 

 are disposed to charge, given sufficient provocation. The word "provo- 

 cation" is important. These two ruminants, along with the big cats, have 

 been taxed with a fundamentally hostile attitude toward man. But often 

 it is man that starts the trouble. 



ATTACK WITHOUT PROVOCATION 



I can name t\vo animals, however, that will attack a man without provo- 

 cation. They are the Asiatic sloth bear and the rhinoceros. Up to the mo- 

 ment no mitigating circumstances have been found for them. The king 

 cobra is also supposed to attack without provocation. But on the whole 

 snakes are much maligned. 



We have named three out-and-out aggressors. But this is not such a for- 

 midable list when we consider the legends of evil behavior in the animal 

 kingdom. 



In American folklore a great deal of mischief has been imputed to the 

 wolf and the eagle. Let us consider the wolf's case. The United States 

 Biological Survey disposes of two legends. American wolves do not hunt 

 in large packs and they do not attack man. The most they achieve in the 

 way of communal organization is the hunting of smaller game in small 

 groups. Man they let alone. On the other side of the wolf ledger there 

 are plenty of cases where Asiatic and European wolves have attacked men. 



The stories about the eagle's exploits usually spring from an exaggerated 

 idea of the bird's strength. It is true they will swoop down and snatch rab- 

 bits, hares, and even young lambs. But eagles which seize children belong 

 in mythology. Among the natives of northern Chinese Turkestan, inci- 

 dentally, the eagle is sometimes used for coursing. The bird is let loose at 

 gazelle. Left to his own choice, he would not ordinarily attack such a big 

 animal since he could never hope to carry it back to his aerie. But he has 

 been well trained. He knows that if he can knock down or impede the 

 animal in his flight, mounted sportsmen will soon ride up to dispatch it. 



By this time it has become reasonably clear that in most conflicts be- 

 tween man and beast, man is the aggressor. From earliest times man has 

 hunted — as a means of procuring food and for skins to protect his body 

 against the elements. He has left a legacy of fear with the animals, and the 

 fact that some of them when injured or menaced will fight back is not in 

 the least surprising. 



One curious phase of man's relation with the animals is the process of 

 domestication. Although all the domestic animals we know today were 

 originally wild, the transformations all took place in prehistoric times. 



