CHAPTER XIII 



PLAY AND PRANKS OF WILD FOLK 



THE plays of wild folk are delightful ex- 

 hibitions and may frequently be enjoyed by 

 those who wait in the wilderness without a 

 gun. Knowing that wild folk play and that they 

 have a home territory brings them strangely close 

 to ourselves. 



Life in the wild places is not all struggle — not all 

 hunger, fright, and fighting. All wild animals find 

 time to rest, and all from time to time give them- 

 selves up to play. They mostly play in silence but 

 a few play noisily; the majority join with others 

 to frolic, but a number of species play singly. Team- 

 work has an important place in the life of many 

 bird and animal species. And play appears vital 

 to them all. 



A tumbleweed in a Wyoming windstorm fur- 

 nished the plaything in an exciting game for a pack 

 of wolves. I watched the play from the shelter of 

 a ravine. Flying before the wind, the tumble- 

 weed bounded a ridge with a huge wolf leaping 

 after it. Closely pressing him came a pursuing 

 pack of twenty. A lull in the wind and the tum- 

 bleweed, colliding with the leading wolf's head, 



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