176 DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



from the herd by a younger rival. He was a "has 

 been" and consequently 



HE WAS DANGEROUS. 



As I approached the bull he was cropping the 

 short sun-dried grass and thinking of the time when 

 he was young and had helped chase other outlawed 

 bulls from the herd, but if this bull had been 

 chased by a rival, it had never been chased by man, 

 especially had it never been threatened by a man 

 afoot and consequently a pedestrian inspired no 

 awe in his bullship's heart, but a buffalo bull has 

 a certain formula through which it must go before 

 it can actually make a charge, a sort of buffalo red 

 tape, so to speak, which must be religiously ob- 

 served because other buffaloes observe it. 



In the first place 



THE BUFFALO MUST LICK HIS NOSE; 



my buffalo stared impudently at me for a few 

 moments then licked his black nose. In the next 

 place it must paw the dirt with one forefoot, swing- 

 ing its body around with its hind legs as a pivot, 

 thus making a perfect arc of a circle or a complete 

 semi-circle of pawed earth; during the process it 

 throws the dirt up over its shoulders in the same 

 manner as does a domestic bull when it is angry. 

 This much of the program having been faithfully 

 performed, his bullship drops on his knees and 

 rolls over in a great cloud of dust; if the enemy 



