American Big-Game Hunting 
is shed, the hair and wool from young ani- 
mals is almost a dark smoky-gray. The calf 
when just born is of a bright yellow color, 
almost a pale red on the line of the back. 
As it grows older it becomes darker, and by 
late autumn is almost as dark as the adults. 
Variations from the normal color are very 
rare, but pied, spotted, and roan animals are 
sometimes killed. Blue or mouse-colored buf- 
falo were occasionally seen, and a bull of this 
color was observed in the National Park last 
January. White buffalo—though often re- 
ferred to as mythical—sometimes occurred. 
These varied from gray to cream-white. 
Whe ‘rare’ and valuable “‘silk” or “beaver” 
robe owes its name to its dark color and its 
peculiar sheen or gloss. White or spotted 
robes were highly valued by the Indians. 
Among the Blackfeet they were presented to 
the Sun as votive offerings. Other tribes 
kept them in their sacred bundles. 
Apart from man, the buffalo had but few 
natural enemies. Of these the most destruc- 
tive were the wolves, which killed a great 
many of them. These, however, were prin- 
cipally old, straggling bulls, for the calves 
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