134 WAITING IN THE WILDERNESS 



Leaving the house top the cub had gone into a 

 willowy place below the beaver dam. No tracks 

 came out of the willows. I listened but could 

 not hear anything. He probably was in there 

 standing still, listening, and wondering which 

 way I would go next. As I stood there a number 

 of magpies in flying over the willows suddenly 

 turned and alighted. They leaned forward to 

 watch something. I imagined it might be the cub, 

 possibly quietly digging out a mouse. I threw 

 a stone which started a rush> followed by a line 

 of willows scattering their snow as they were flung 

 right and left. Presently on the mountain side 

 the cub rushed out on the gallop. He stopped 

 for one look and then crashed into a pine thicket. 

 Back toward home I started, planning the following 

 morning to back-track the cub and find out from 

 the snow where he had spent the preceding night. 



The black bear has more boy-like character- 

 istics than any animal that I know. Like a boy, 

 he has marked possibilities. Unfortunately, most 

 bears in contact with people have been ruined by 

 nagging and teasing. But I know of a few black 

 bear pets that have been kindly treated and they 

 responded nobly; they showed alertness, kindness, 

 and loyalty. 



At the Lake Hotel, Yellowstone National 

 Park, a few years ago Mrs. George Frederick 

 Diehl was nicknamed the "Bear Tamer" by the 



