OF WILD ANIMALS 275 



by the jungle police, — and they fought round after round, in 

 the most orthodox prize ring style, under the Queensberry 

 rules. So fairly did they fight that neither claimed a foul, 

 and at the finish the two combatants retired to their respective 

 corners and died simultaneously, "to the musical twitter of 

 the night bird." 



Another writer has given a vivid description of a battle to 

 the death between a wild bull and a grizzly bear; and we have 

 read of several awful combats between black bears and alli- 

 gators, in Florida; but some of us have yet to find either a 

 black bear or an alligator that will stop to fight when he has 

 an option on a line of retreat. When he has lived long, — 

 say to the length of twelve feet, — the alligator is a hideous 

 and terrorizing beast; but, for all that, he knows a thing or 

 two; and a full grown, healthy black bear of active habit is 

 about the last creature on earth that a 'gator would care to 

 meddle with. Pigs and calves, fawns, stray dogs, ducks and 

 mud hens are antagonists more to his liking. 



The Fighting Tactics of Bears. In captivity, bears 

 quarrel and scold one another freely, at feeding time, but 

 seldom draw blood. I have questioned many old hunters, and 

 read many books by bear hunters, but Ira Dodge, of Wyoming, 

 is the only man I know who has witnessed a real fight between 

 wild bears. He once saw a battle between a cinnamon and 

 a grizzly over the carcass of an elk. 



In attacking, a bear does three things, and usually in the 

 same order. First, he delivers a sweeping sidewise blow on 

 the head of his antagonist; then he seizes him by the cheek, 

 with the intention of shifting to the throat as quickly as it 

 is safe to do so. His third move consists in throwing his weight 

 upon his foe and bearing him to the earth, where he will have 

 a better chance at his throat. If the fighters aie fairly matched, 

 the struggle is head to head and mouth to mouth. After the 

 first onset, the paws do little or no damage, and the attacks 

 of the teeth rarely go as far down as the shoulders. Often 



