' ioV : WATCHED BY WILD ANIMALS 



is ferocious a wanton, cruel killer. He fights 

 or works only when compelled to do so. He is 

 not ferocious. He avoids man as though he were 

 a pestilence. 



One day in climbing out on a cliff I acci- 

 dentally dislodged a huge rock. This as it fell 

 set a still larger rock going. The second rock 

 in its hurtling plunge struck a tree in which a 

 young black bear was sleeping. As the tree came 

 to the earth the bear made haste to scamper up 

 the nearest tree. But unfortunately the one up 

 which he raced had lost its top by the same 

 flying ton of stone, and he was able to get only 

 a few yards above the earth. 



To get him to come down I procured a long 

 pole and prodded him easily. At first, on the 

 defensive, he slapped and knocked the pole to 

 right and left. He was plainly frightened and 

 being cornered was determined to fight. I 

 proceeded gently and presently he calmed down 

 and began playing with the pole. He played 

 just as merrily as ever kitten played with a 

 moving, tickling twig or string. 



The black bear is the most plausible bluffer 

 I have ever seen. His hair bristling, upper lip 

 stuck forward, and onrushing with a rapid 

 volley of champing K-woof-f-Ps, he appears 

 terrible. He pulls himself out of many a pre- 

 dicament and obtains many an unearned morsel 



