THE FIRST WOODS 253 



ness and wickedness. If is fair to say that the malice, 

 at least, is not proven; and there is a good side to 

 Wolverine character that should be emphasized; that 



is, its nearly ideal family life, coupled with the heroic 

 bravery of the mother. I say "nearly" ideal, for so 

 far as I can learn, the father does not assist in rear- 

 ing the young. But all observers agree that the 

 mother is absolutely fearless and devoted. More 

 than one of the hunters have assured me that it is 

 safer to molest a mother Bear than a mother Wolver- 

 ine when accompanied by the cubs. 



Bellalise, a half-breed of Chipewyan, told me that 

 twice he had found Wolverine dens, and been seriously 

 endangered by the mother. The first was in mid- 

 May, 1904, near Fond du Lac, north side of Lake 

 Athabaska. He went out with an Indian to bring 

 in a skiff left some miles off on the shore. He had no 

 gun, and was surprised by coming on an old Wolverine 

 in a slight hollow under the boughs of a green spruce. 

 She rushed at him, showing all her teeth, her eyes 

 shining blue, and uttering sounds like those of a Bear. 

 The Indian boy hit her once with a stick, then swung 

 himself out of danger up a tree. Bellalise ran off after 

 getting sight of the young ones; they were four in 

 number, about the size of a Muskrat, and pure white. 

 Their eyes were open. The nest was just such as a 

 dog might make, only six inches deep and lined with a 

 little dry grass. Scattered around were bones and fur, 

 chiefly of Rabbits. 



The second occasion was in 1005, within three miles 

 of Chipewyan, and, as before, about the middle of May. 



