76 The Ottawa Naturalist. [July 



buffalo rapidly making^ for the cattle sheds where troughs of 

 water stand. They were busily drinking as we approached, and 

 we imagined that they were pretty well domesticated. We 

 were quickly undeceived. In the first place, they were drinking 

 out of the small pools formed by water overflowing from the 

 adjacent pump. They are never known to drink out of the 

 spacious troughs provided with clean water. In the second 

 place a slight breeze arose and blew towards them from our 

 direction. The effect was instantaneous. They raised their 

 heads, sniffed suspiciously, curled their tails aloft, and bounded 

 away with lightning speed. One gained some idea of the 

 strength and swiftness of the buffalo, for these two monsters 

 bounded away lightly as deer, and in a few minutes were lost to 

 view. Their fear of man is still strong, and they retain so much 

 of their original wariness, that anything touched by human 

 hands they avoid. Hence they refuse to enter the cattle sheds 

 in winter, and prefer the snowy waste. They will not even 

 lie down upon dry straw which was thickly spread over 

 the snow for them. Hence also they refuse to drink out 

 of troughs, buckets, or any vessels placed for cattle or 

 horses, and invariably quench their thirst at mud-puddles 

 and small scattered pools of water. Foxes, bears, etc, exhibit 

 similar wariness, and are able to detect the touch of man's hand 

 on traps set for their capture. Hunters adopt many devices to 

 elude this keen sense of smell, which warns wild animals of 

 danger. Castor, which the beaver hunter procures, is invaluable 

 for smearing traps set for certain fur animals. 



We feared that the startled pair had rejoined the herd and 

 that all would have hurried far away. That they were shy we 

 had been assured. They were also less trustworthy than for- 

 merly, having been much disturbed by numbers of visitors, 

 some of whom had thoughtlessly teased the animals. We were 

 cautioned if we went in search of the buffalo to move quietly 

 and slowly. Sudden movements or noises startle them, and 

 they either rush off in stampede and may not be visible any 

 more that day, or they turn threateningly upon the intruders. 



