American Big Game in its Haunts 



was sorry not to see the bears, for the effect of pro- 

 tection upon bear life in the Yellowstone has been 

 one of the phenomena of natural history. Not 

 only have they grown to realize that they are safe, 

 but, being natural scavengers and foul feeders, 

 they have come to recognize the garbage heaps of 

 the hotels as their special sources of food supply. 

 Throughout the summer months they come to all 

 the hotels in numbers, usually appearing in the late 

 afternoon or evening, and they have become as in- 

 different to the presence of men as the deer them- 

 selves some of them very much more indifferent. 

 They have now taken their place among the recog- 

 nized sights of the Park, and the tourists are 

 nearly as much interested in them as in the geysers. 

 It was amusing to read the proclamations ad- 

 dressed to the tourists by the Park management, in 

 which they were solemnly warned that the bears 

 were really wild animals, and that they must on no 

 account be either fed or teased. It is curious to 

 think that the descendants of the great grizzlies 

 which were the dread of the early explorers and 

 hunters should now be semi-domesticated creatures, 

 boldly hanging around crowded hotels for the sake 

 of what they can pick up, and quite harmless so 

 long as any reasonable precaution is exercised. 

 They are much safer, for instance, than any or- 



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