184 With Feet to the Earth 



kittens. I have played with small ones 

 without putting them in much disquiet 

 A badger that I met in the Rocky Moun- 

 tains regarded me with some curiosity 

 while I sat on a stone and talked to him 

 in a low voice, in the hope of winning his 

 confidence, but after a while he concluded 

 that there was no profit in human ac- 

 quaintances, and he pattered off without 

 the least show of haste or nervousness. A 

 woodchuck, sunning himself on a fence, 

 refused to run as I approached, allowed 

 himself to be addressed at three feet of 

 distance, and even to be poked gently with 

 a stick, without other objection than a 

 look of surprise. Young birds I have 

 taken into my hands, although at first they 

 peck at one's fingers. A bird it appeared 

 to be a hawk, but was hardly bigger than 

 a robin invited me to fight him in the 

 Yellowstone country, and running on 

 before me (I had probably intruded near 

 his nest), turned back ever and anon to 

 shake his wings, make threatening lurches, 

 and hiss at me with a wide, red mouth, 

 strangely snake-like. 



