308 THE MINDS AND MANNERS 



pauses for a second and poises his head for the toss. That is 

 the man's one chance. At that instant he must strike the 

 animal on the side of his head, and strike hard; and the region 

 of the eye is the spot at which to aim. 



Once we were greatly frightened by the determined charge 

 of a savage cow bison upon Keeper McEnroe, who was armed 

 with a short-handled 4-tine pitchfork. As she grunted and 

 came for him we could not refrain from shouting a terrorized 

 warning, "Look out, McEnroe! Look out!" 



He looked out. He stood perfectly still, and calmly awaited 

 the onset. The cow rushed close up, and dropped her chin 

 low down for the goring toss. The keeper was ready for her. 

 Swinging his pitchfork he delivered a smashing blow upon the 

 left side of the cow's head, which disconcerted and checked 

 her. Before she could recover herself he smashed her again, 

 and again. Then she turned tail and ran, followed by the 

 shouts of the multitude. 



Adult male elephants are among the most dangerous of 

 all wild animals to keep in captivity. They will grow bad- 

 tempered with adult age, keepers will become careless of danger 

 that is present every day, and a bad elephant often is a cun- 

 ning and deceitful devil. The strength of an elephant is so 

 great, the toughness of its hide is so pronounced, and the 

 danger of a sudden attack is so permanent that life in a park 

 with a "bad" elephant is one continuous nightmare. 



Naturally we have been ambitious to prevent all manner of 

 fatal wild beast attacks upon our keepers. We try our best to 

 provide for their safety, and having done that to the limit we 

 say: "Now it is up to you to preserve your own life. If you 

 can not save yourself from your bad animals, no other person 

 can do it for you!" 



Either positively, comparatively or superlatively, a bad 

 elephant is a cunning, treacherous and dangerous animal. 

 We have seen several elephants in various stages of cussedness. 

 Alice, the adult Indian female, is mentally a freak, but she 



