60 THE FUR SEALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



be driven off was deemed advisable. There was no fighting among them at that 

 time nor any apparent inclination to fight voluntarily. That no marked fighting 

 had occurred previous to this time was evident from the fact that but few wounds or 

 fresh scars could be seen upon the animals. In this regard they were in marked 

 contrast to their condition in the middle of the season, when the harem bull or idle 

 bull that did not show gashes about the breast and shoulders was the exception and 

 not the rule. 



At this early date the bulls not only did not pay any attention to one another, 

 but even allowed the bachelors to occupy places among them and to haul out where 

 they pleased. Later in the season this could not have occurred. A bachelor or young 

 bull then appearing within range of an adult bull was violently attacked. 



NO FIGHTING OVER ARRIVING COWS. 



As the description of the arrival of the cows has already indicated, there could 

 be nothing more incorrect than the reported battles over them. To the first arrival 

 of the cow the bulls are utterly indifferent except where she becomes the object of 

 capture by a particular bull. Once in the harems, the cows receive little attention even 

 from their lords after the first brief welcome and absolutely none from other bulls. 

 This was but natural. The lauding cows were heavy with young. These must be 

 born and a period of a week elapse before they could become an object of interest to 

 the bull. The attitude of the bull at the outset was one merely of defense or struggle 

 for possession. He was not influenced, as he was later on, by sexual excitement. 



The real period of struggle and contest on the rookeries occurred after the 1st of 

 July, when the cows began to come in heat in large numbers. From this time on to 

 the close of the season more or less fighting could always be seen. 



FIGHTING INFLUENCED BY SEXUAL INSTINCT. 



When the breeding season was over and the bulls had returned to the sand beaches 

 from feeding, their fighting instincts were plainly gone and they could be gathered 

 up and driven about like the bachelors. In securing specimens for dissection or other 

 purposes, two or three men could round up from 400 to 500 bulls on Zoltoi sands and 

 drive them over to the killing grounds. They could be handled and driven exactly 

 as sheep are. In the breeding season a dozen men could not move one of these bulls 

 from his place or make away with him otherwise than by killing him. His courage 

 and fighting qualities are simply boundless in the defense of his harem. He will not 

 interfere with the observer who keeps at a reasonable distance, but when too closely 

 approached he will charge fiercely and quickly, and the adult bull on the breeding 

 grounds is about as dangerous as a bear. Judging from the way in which they tear 

 one another, a man would fare badly in their clutches. The bull, however, does not 

 follow up his enemy beyond a certain point, and always returns to his real or imagi- 

 nary harem. This makes escape an easy matter. The chief source of danger in getting 

 about among the bulls is in the possibility of slipping or stumbling on the rocks, or 

 ot running into the range of a sleeping animal while escaping from another. One can 

 not always easily distinguish, in the foggy atmosphere of Bering Sea, the idle bulls 

 from the stones among which they lie. That no accidents have occurred to the various 

 investigators from the attacks of bull seals is due to the wholesome caution and respect 

 which their courage and apparent capacity for mischief have inspired. 



