THE CAT. 257 



when he inserted his head or "privy paw" to 

 drag them forth, they greeted him with a chorus 

 of hisses. But any one who has watched a fox 

 or any similar beast of prey when he was prowl- 

 ing abroad in search of food must have noted 

 the extreme caution with which he approaches 

 any object which offers him the prospect of a 

 meal. The proverbial — and I think much over- 

 rated — cunning- of the fox or the wolverene is 

 often nothino; more than an almost incredible 

 degree of suspicion and timorousness when such 

 an animal is brought in contact with anything 

 which puzzles him or appeals to his fears. It 

 is well known that such animals will rather 

 starve than meddle with any object which has 

 the appearance of being a trap. A familiar 

 stratagem adopted by hunters in North America 

 to protect a carcass from the wolves takes ad- 

 vantage of this peculiarity of disposition. After 

 killing a deer or any other animal too large to 

 be carried home, the hunter will often inflate 

 the bladder and hang it over the carcass, so 

 that it swings to and fro in the wind. This 

 plan is said never to fail in keeping even fam- 

 ished coyotes or timber-wolves from meddling 

 with the meat. I cannot see that there can 



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