ATTITUDE OF WILD ANIMALS TOWARDS MAN 239 



than they will venture upon with regard to a camp or a group of 

 men without horses. 



Districts where the Indians hunt the guanaco may be passed 

 ■over as having no bearing on the subject in hand. There the 

 herds are, of course, extremely wild and hard of approach. But it 

 is interesting to note that near the coast, where there are numbers 

 -of guanaco, they are comparatively tame. Shepherds on horseback 

 from the farms pass and repass within sight of the herds, who grow 

 accustomed to the experience and become easy of access to within 

 •one hundred yards.* 



One day in the October of 1900, when at the farm of Mr. Green- 

 shields at Bahia Camerones, I took a long ride through the 

 xanadones where the shepherds were wont to pass. Again and 

 again the guanaco herds allowed me to ride up close to them, and 

 I invariably found that a single animal was shyer of approach than 

 •a herd. 



Guanacos are very easily domesticated, and in time become ob- 

 trusively playful and affectionate. It is a favourite trick with them 

 to come behind their human friends rearing and striking them in the 

 back with their knees, which results in a more or less painful fall. 



Curiosity is a largely developed mental characteristic in the 

 Jerce naturce of Patagonia. The first and overwhelrhing impulse 

 of nearly all the wild creatures (the ostrich, Rhea darwini, excepted) 

 appeared to be to investigate the aspect and actions of man. 

 Upon the coast-farms the guanaco, grown blasd by familiarity, will 

 not take any interest in man's movements unless he indulges in 

 some unusual and fantastic antics, such as lying oh his back and 

 kicking his legs in the air. Then an otherwise indifferent herd 

 will gather and watch the proceedings with much attention. 



As far as my experience goes, no wild creature, save the ostrich, 

 on first beholding man, straightway travels out of sight. All the 

 ■others, according to whether they naturally are shy or the reverse, 

 retire to a more or less remote distance, and from there watch the 

 •doings of the intruder upon their solitudes. 



Of Patagonian game the least hunted is the deer of the Andes 



-' Where there are sheep, and consequently mutton is procurable, the guanaco is 

 rarely hunted. 



