The Happy Hooligan 127 



sudden suspicion of unexpected danger led them to 

 make themselves scarce, and this, too, when the sus- 

 picion turned out to have been right, that I was forced 

 to conclude that they either heard or smelled their ene- 

 mies. But I could never find out which it was that 

 they did. Several times I have seen them suddenly 

 rush with snorts of apprehension to the nearest tree, 

 and had their actions explained a few minutes later by 

 the silent appearance of a huge grizzly. 



The grandest wild animal of the United States is the 

 grizzly bear. But the most amusing the most ludi- 

 crous, the most human and understandable of our wild 

 animals, is our friend Ursus americanus (Pallas). I 

 have called him the Happy Hooligan of the woods, and 

 I can think of no more descriptive phrase for him. 

 He is neither evil-intentioned nor bad-natured. Yet 

 he has probably terrified more innocent wayfarers than 

 any other denizen of our forests. 



