OF WILD ANIMALS 305 



Strange to say, bear bites or scratches almost never produce 

 blood poisoning! This seems very strange, for the bites of lions, 

 tigers and leopards very frequently end in blood poisoning, 

 incurable fever and death. This probably is due to the clean 

 mouth of the omnivorous bear and the infected mouth of the 

 large cats, from putrid meat between their teeth. 



The wolf is particularly dangerous to his antagonists, man 

 or beast, from the cutting power of his fearful snap. His molar 

 teeth shear through flesh and small bones like the gash of a 

 butcher's cleaver; and his wide gape and lightning-quick move- 

 ments render him a very dangerous antagonist. The bite of a 

 wolf is the most dangerous to man of any animal bite to which 

 keepers are liable, and it is the law of zoological gardens and 

 parks that every wolf bite means a quick application of anti- 

 rabies treatment at a Pasteur institute. Personally, I would 

 be no more scared by a wolf-bite than by a feline bite, but the 

 verdict of the jury is, — "it is best to be on the safe side." 



Buck elk and deer very, very rarely attack men in the wilds, 

 unless they have been wounded and brought to bay; and then 

 very naturally they fight furiously. It is the attacks of captive 

 or park-bred animals that are most to be feared. 



All the deer that I know attack in the same way, — first by 

 a slow push forward, in order to come to close quarters without 

 getting hurt, and then follows the relentless push, push, push to 

 get up steam for the final raging and death-dealing drive. 

 Even in fighting each other, buck elk and deer do not come 

 together with a long run and a grand crash. Each potential 

 fighter fears for his own eyes, and conserves them by a cautious 

 and deliberate engaging process. This is referred to in another 

 chapter. 



Fortunately for poor humanity, the same slow and cautious 

 tactics are adopted when a buck deer or wapiti decides to 

 attack a man. This gives the man in the case a chance to put 

 up his defense. 



The attacking deer lowers his head, throws his antlers far 



