76 The Black Bear 



human watcher of the scene could have suspected it. 

 But they give no outward sign of being aware of the 

 new arrival. If, however, the intruder had happened 

 to have been a grizzly they would undoubtedly have 

 taken to their heels or taken refuge in the nearest 

 tree with loud puffings and snortings some minutes 

 before he reached the scene. Yet these same bears, 

 once they have fed their fill, will frequently go to play- 

 ing together as one never sees the grizzlies do. Two of 

 them will stand up and wrestle, roll each other over 

 and over, chase each other about, and generally have a 

 fine romp. As a rule, however, this sort of play takes 

 place between bears of different sizes, and the smaller 

 one sometimes gets well thrown about and mauled. 



One of the most entertaining experiences that I ever 

 had in the woods was connected with just such an after- 

 dinner romp between two Black Bears. I was photo- 

 graphing grizzlies in the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming, 

 and had set up my camera and flash-light apparatus 

 near a likely looking trail. My flash-pan was placed 

 on top of a ten-foot pole stuck in the ground under a 

 small pine tree, and a fine wire was run from the switch 

 that operated the apparatus across the trail and tied 

 to a convenient bush. I had completed my arrange- 

 ments about half-past four in the afternoon and had 

 concealed myself in a mass of fallen timber some 

 seventy-five or eighty feet away prepared to wait for 

 dusk. 



