360 Wild Beasts 



have had an opportunity to observe them were exclusively 

 occupied with describing their destructiveness, or because 

 grizzlies have few of those traits that make many species 

 interesting, their records are very barren indeed. A soli- 

 tary being like this could not possess the engaging quali- 

 ties Espinas (" Soci6t^s Animales ") and Beccari describe 

 among those that live in association ; but other creatures 

 are so placed without losing all attractiveness. It does 

 not take long to tell the little that is certain about a griz- 

 zly's ways when left to himself. Besides what has been 

 already said, we know that they appropriate game not 

 killed by themselves, and will steal meat wherever it is 

 found. Audubon saw one swimming in the Upper Mis- 

 souri after the carcass of a drowned buffalo, Roosevelt 

 had his elk eaten, and four of them visited Lord Dun- 

 raven's oamp, carrying off all the food they could find. 

 He says " they scarcely ate any of the flesh, but took the 

 greatest pains to prevent any other creatures getting at 

 it." This is not always the case, however. That they 

 bury provisions is sure, but it is sometimes done very im- 

 perfectly, even when there is no physical difficulty in the 

 way of completeness. On rocky soil the cache is simply 

 covered with leaves, branches, and grass. Lord Dunraven, 

 however, tells of a hunter who watched a grizzly burying its 

 prey with the greatest care, concealing it completely, and 

 finishing off his work in the most painstaking manner. 

 Animals that have this habit need not watch their food as 

 a tiger does his "kill," and when the interment was accom- 

 plished to this one's satisfaction, it went away. Before 

 getting far, some "yyhiskey jacks" (a kind of magpie) that 



