204 THE ADVENTURES OF A NATURE GUIDE 



knees and jiggled himself along to start, he ap- 

 peared strangely human. At one point he reached 

 back his paw and put on brakes. He ended the 

 coast with a jump and a somersault. Then, se- 

 lecting a different place on the slope, he started 

 down again, pushing himself along with both fore 

 paws to get up speed. He ended this time by 

 deliberately rolling over and over. Rising on hind 

 feet he looked at his marks on the snowy slope and 

 climbed back up for another coast. 



Twice I have seen a black bear, "The Happy 

 Hooligan of the Woods," and a coyote playing to- 

 gether. In one of these games the bear, solemn- 

 looking as an elephant but as merry as a boy, would 

 allow the coyote to leap over him but used his speed 

 and his wits in trying to prevent the coyote from 

 ducking under him or leaping across close in front 

 of him. The coyote's play was puppy-like, though 

 suggesting at times fox cleverness. They were 

 well matched, both in skill and speed. They made 

 lively dashes and swift turns as they raced across 

 a grassy opening in the woods. They varied this 

 swift turning by slow passing, biting, and striking 

 at each other as they met. Then each in turn 

 enjoyed the ludicrous pretence of being asleep 

 while the other went through an equally ludicrous 

 pretence of trying to slip up and surprise the 

 sleeper. 



As games often end, this play broke up in a row. 

 The coyote lost his temper and made a fierce but 



