OF WILD ANIMALS 247 



"I'm a grizzly! I'm here, and I've come to stay. Do I 

 hear any objections?" 



Quite as if in answer to the challenge, an eighteen-months- 

 old black bear presently sidled up and made a trial blow at the 

 grizzly's head. Instantly the grizzly cub's right arm shot out a 

 well-delivered blow that sent the black one scurrying away in a 

 panic, and perceptibly cleared the atmosphere. That cub had 

 grizzly-bear courage and confidence; that was all. 



There are a number of American sportsmen who esteem 

 the Cape buffalo as the most aggressive and dangerous wild 

 animal in eastern Africa. He is so courageous and so persis- 

 tently bold that he is much given to lying in wait for hunters and 

 attacking with real fury. The high grass of his swamps is very 

 helpful to him as a means of defense. In our National Col- 

 lection of Heads and Horns there is a huge buffalo head (for 

 years the world's highest record) that tells the story of a near 

 tragedy. The brother of Mr. F. H. Barber, of South Africa, 

 fired at the animal, but failed to stop it. His gun jammed, and 

 the charging beast was almost in the act of killing him when F. 

 H. Barber fired without pausing to take aim. His lucky bullet 

 knocked a piece out of the buffalo's left horn, dazed the animal 

 for a moment, and afforded time for the shot that killed the 

 mighty bull. 



The leopard is usually a vicious beast. When brought 

 to bay it fights with great fury and success. The black leopard 

 is supremely vicious and intractable. Nearly all leopards hate 

 training, and I have seen two or three leopard "acts" that were 

 nerve-racking to witness because of the clear determination of 

 all the animals to kill their trainer at the first opportunity. 



The status of the big Alaskan brown bear has already been 

 referred to in terms that may stand as an estimate of its courage. 

 Really, it is now in the same mental state as the grizzly bears 

 of the days of Lewis and Clark, and the surplus must be shot to 

 admonish the survivors and protect the rights of man. 



The Rage of a Wild Bull Elk. One of the most re- 

 markable cases of rage, resentment and fighting courage in a 



