6i Hunting the Grisly 



had ripened. I think that what started it was 

 a feast on a cow which had mired and died in 

 the bed of the creek; at least it was not until 

 after we found that it had been feeding at the 

 carcass and had eaten every scrap, that we 

 discovered traces of its ravages among the 

 livestock. It seemed to attack the animals 

 wholly regardless of their size and strength; 

 its victims including a large bull and a beef 

 steer, as well as cows, yearlings, and gaunt, 

 weak trail "doughgies," which had been 

 brought in very late by a Texas cow-outfit 

 for that year several herds were driven up 

 from the overstocked, eaten-out, and drought- 

 stricken ranges of the far South. Judging 

 from the signs, the crafty old grisly, as cun- 

 ning as he was ferocious, usually lay in wait 

 for the cattle when they came down to water, 

 choosing some thicket of dense underbrush 

 and twisted cottonwoods through which they 

 had to pass before reaching the sand banks on 

 the river's brink. Sometimes he pounced on 

 them as they fed through the thick, low cover 

 of the bottoms, where an assailant could either 

 lie in ambush by one of the numerous cattle 

 trails, or else creep unobserved toward some 

 browsing beast. When within a few feet a 

 quick rush carried him fairly on the terrified 



