AMONG THE ANIMALS OF THE YOSEMITE 183 



down the fruit-laden branches with his paws and 

 pressing them together, so as to get substantial 

 mouthfuls, however mixed with leaves and twigs. 

 The time of year enabled the hunter to deter- 

 mine approximately where the game would be 

 found : in spring and early summer, in lush grass 

 and clover meadows and in berry tangles along 

 the banks of streams, or on pea- vine and lupine 

 clad slopes ; in late summer and autumn, beneath 

 the pines, eating the cones cut off by the squir- 

 rels, and in oak groves at the bottom of canons, 

 munching acorns, manzanita berries, and cher- 

 ries ; and after snow had fallen, in alluvial bot- 

 toms, feeding on ants and yellow-jacket wasps. 

 These food places were always cautiously ap- 

 proached, so as to avoid the chance of sudden 

 encounters. 



" Whenever," said the hunter, " I saw a bear 

 before he saw me, I had no trouble in killing 

 him. I just took lots of time to learn what he 

 was up to and how long he would be likely to 

 stay, and to study the direction of the wind and 

 the lay of the land. Then I worked round to 

 leeward of him, no matter how far I had to go ; 

 crawled and dodged to within a hundred yards, 

 near the foot of a tree that I could climb, but 

 which was too small for a bear to climb. There 

 I looked well to the priming of my rifle, took 

 off my boots so as to climb quickly if necessary, 

 and, with my rifle in rest and Sandy behind me, 



