OF WILD ANIMALS 143 



to live in large herds, and to feel, generation after generation, 

 the sense of personal security that great numbers usually 

 impart, the bison early acquired the reputation of being 

 a stolid or even a stupid animal. Particularly was this the case 

 in the days of the greatest bison destruction, when a still- 

 hunter could get "a stand" on a bunch of buffaloes quietly 

 grazing at the edge of the great mass, and slowly and surely 

 shoot down each animal that attempted to lead that group 

 away from the sound of his rifle. 



During that fatal period the state of the buffalo mind was 

 nothing less than a tragedy. "The bunch" would hear a 

 report two hundred yards away, they would see a grazing cow 

 suddenly and mysteriously fall, struggle, kick the air, and pre- 

 sently lie still. The individuals nearest dully wondered what it 

 was all about. Those farthest away looked once only, and went 

 on grazing. If an experienced old cow grew suspicious and 

 wary, and quietly set out to walk away from those mysterious 

 noises, "bang!" said the Mystery once more, and she would 

 be the one to fall. On this murderous plan, a lucky and 

 experienced hunter could kill from twenty to sixty head of 

 buffaloes, mostly cows, on a space of three or four acres. The 

 fatal trouble was that each buffalo felt that the presence of 

 a hundred or a thousand others feeding close by was an in- 

 surance of security to the individual, and so there was no 

 stampede. 



But after all, the bison is not so big a fool as he looks. He 

 can think; and he can learn. 



In 1886, when we were about to set out for Montana to 

 try to find a few wild buffaloes for the National Museum, 

 before the reckless cowboys could find, kill and waste absolutely 

 the last one, a hilarious friend said: 



"Pshaw! You don't need to take any rifles! Just get a 

 rusty old revolver, mount a good, sensible horse, ride right 

 up alongside the lumbering old beasts, and shoot them down 

 at arm's length." 



