106 WATCHED BY WILD ANIMALS 
times I braced myself on a near-by large limb 
and shook with all my might. Often I was able 
to move the end of the limb rapidly back and 
forth, but the cubs easily clung on. At times 
they had hold with only one paw—occasionally 
with only a single claw; but never could I shake 
them free. 
The affair ended by my cutting a limb—to 
which a cub was clinging—nearly off with my 
hatchet. Suddenly breaking the remaining hold 
of the limb I tossed it and the tenacious little 
cub out, tumbling toward the earth. The cub 
struck the earth lightly, and before I had fully 
recovered from nearly tumbling after him came 
scrambling up the tree trunk beneath me! 
One spring day while travelling in the moun- 
tains I paused in a whirl of mist and wet snow 
to look for the trail. I could see only a few feet 
ahead. As I looked closely a bear emerged 
from the gloom heading straight for me. Be- 
hind her were two cubs. I caught an impatient 
expression when she first saw me. She stopped, 
and with a growl of anger wheeled and boxed 
the cubs right and left like a worried, unpoised 
mother. They vanished in the direction from 
which they had come, the cubs being urged on 
with lively spanks. 
Like most animals, the black bear has a local 
habitation. His territory is twenty miles or 
