io8 The Black Bear 



through a transom with a gun in your hand and mur- 

 der in your mind, the chances are a hundred to one 

 that he'll feel something queer ''in the air." The 

 thing has not been explained yet, but we can feel a 

 scowl behind our backs much more readily than a 

 smile. And in the woods the animals soon distinguish 

 between a desire to kill and a desire to look on. I 

 have tried both and I know. 



All animals are quick to understand when we are 

 afraid of them; and many of them seem to enjoy 

 taking advantage of the fact. We can see this in 

 cows and in dogs and even in turkey gobblers. And 

 we would see it often in the woods, too, if we were not 

 so much given to either running or shooting before we 

 had time to see it. The Black Bear makes the most of 

 his ability to inspire terror. He trades on it. He 

 makes capital out of it. And he has come to be one of 

 the most accomplished bluffers on earth. 



In the summer of 1908 I spent some weeks in the 

 mountains of the Yellowstone National Park getting a 

 series of flash-light pictures of grizzly bears, and early 

 in my stay I was joined by Mr. J. B. Kerfoot, of New 

 York, who, although he had had no experience with 

 bears, had done a good deal of amateur photography 

 and was anxious to help me with the work in hand. 

 The day after we reached camp we went out to look 

 over the ground where we proposed to work that night, 

 and on our way back we ran across an old Black Bear 



