OF WILD ANIMALS 



137 



rolled over the edge of a cliff, and fell on a brushy soil-covered 

 spot about on the same level as the remains of goat No. 1. 



The fresh goat remains were promptly discovered by a lusty 

 young grizzly, which ate to satiety from Goat No. 1. With the 

 remains of Goat No. 2 the grizzly industriously proceeded to 

 establish a cache of meat for future use. 



The goat carcass was dragged to a well chosen spot of se- 

 clusion on moss-covered earth. On the steep hillside a shallow 

 hole was dug, the whole carcass rolled into it, and then upon it 

 the bear piled nearly a wagon load of fresh earth, moss, and 

 green plants that had been torn up by the roots. Over the 

 highest point of the carcass the mass wastwenty-f ourinchesdeep. 

 On the ground the cache was elliptical in shape, and its outline 

 measured about seven by nine feet. On the lower side it was 

 four feet high, and on the upper side two feet. The cache was 

 built around two larch saplings, as if to secure their support. 

 On the uphill side of the cache the ground was torn up in a space 

 shaped like a half moon, twenty-eight feet long by nineteen 

 wide. 



I regard that cache as a very impressive exhibit of ursine 

 thought, reasoning and conclusion. It showed more fore- 

 thought and provision, and higher purpose in the conservation 

 of food than some human beings ever display, even at their best. 

 The plains Indians and the buffalo hunters were horribly waste- 

 ful and improvident. The impulse of that grizzly was to make 

 good use of every pound of that meat, and to conserve for the future. 



Survival of the Bears. — The bears of North America 

 have survived thirty thousand years after the lions and the 

 sabre-toothed tigers of La Brea perished utterly and dis- 

 appeared. But there were bears also in those days, as the 

 asphalt pits reveal. Now, why did not all the bears of North 

 America share the fate of the lions and the tigers? It seems 

 reasonable to answer that it was because the bears were wiser, 

 more gifted in the art of self-preservation, and more resourceful 

 in execution. In view of the omnivorous menu of bears, and 



