WILD ANIMALS AND MEN 211 



had arrived, and after killing the wolverine and skinning both 

 the conquerer and the conquered, had lighted his pipe and 

 leisurely read every detail of the story in that morning's issue 

 of the forest publication called The Snow. 



Next morning, when I turned out before breakfast, I found 

 that Oo-koo-hoo had left camp before dayhght; and half the 

 afternoon passed before he returned. That evening he ex- 

 plained that during the previous night, the thought of the 

 wolverine having haunted him and spoilt his rest, he had 

 decided on a certain plan, risen before dawn, and started upon 

 the trail. Now he was full of the subject, and without my ask- 

 ing, described what he had done. Securing a number of fish 

 hooks — trout size — he had wired them together, enclosed them 

 in the centre of a ball of grease which he had placed inside an old 

 canvas bag, and fastened there with the aid of wires attached to 

 the hooks. Then, carrying the bag to where he found fairly 

 fresh wolverine signs, he had dropped it upon the trail as 

 though it had accidentally fallen there. The wolverine, he 

 explained, would probably at first attempt to carry away the 

 bag, but on scenting the grease it would paw the bag about; 

 then, upon discovering the opening, it would thrust its head 

 inside, seize the ball of grease in its mouth, and start to pull it 

 out. "If that should happen," commented Oo-koo-hoo, 

 "the wolverine would never leave that spot alive; it would 

 just lie there and wait for me to come and knock it on the 

 head." 



But now at last — as later events proved — Oo-koo-hoo, the 

 great hunter, had encountered his match. Now it was no 

 longer an unequal contest, for now two could play at cunning — 

 especially when both were masters at the game. Three times 

 The Owl visited his latest wolverine trap, only to learn that 

 twice the brute had inspected it and spurned it, for its tracks 

 proved that caution had kept the animal more than five feet 

 away. Later, as the winter wore on, the subject of wolverines 



