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Touring With Raymond Spears 
From Coast to Coast with the Most Experienced Auto-Camper of the Day 
F EAR is one of the worst features 
of touring. Bugaboos, it seems, 
lie in wait along all the trails 
and lurk in ambush, waiting to hold 
up, devastate or destroy the daring ad¬ 
venturers. Literally, the things to be 
feared are chiefly frames of mind, 
carelessness and, of course, bad water, 
poorly-cooked or cared-for food, and 
the results of bad habits, worry and 
nervousness. What a pity it is 
that anyone should feel obliged 
to ask: 
“Ought I to carry a side-arm 
for protection?” 
In only one region in the 
United States is a tourist likely 
to be embarrassed by wild ani¬ 
mals. The bears in the Yellow¬ 
stone Park are a nuisance and 
do not hesitate to raid the camp 
provender of tourists, and as 
these bears are commonly large 
and saucy grizzlies they present 
a fearsome aspect to those who 
have been taught to expect to 
be eaten alive by even cub bears. 
Some day, perhaps, the park authori¬ 
ties will find themselves sponsors for 
an indignant grizzly whose paw wipes 
out a human life. Certainly, in the 
tourists’ camps, there is no such fre¬ 
quent topic of national park conversa¬ 
tion as the Yellowstone Park bears, the 
regulations that line the tourists up, 
thus and so, and the general comment 
that except for the animals all the rest 
of the Rocky Mountain is just as in¬ 
teresting as the park area. 
No one need fear bears, wolves, 
cougars or other of the large wild 
animals. Wolves, if they attack hu¬ 
mans at all, do so in the winter months, 
when driven by hunger. One may see 
coyotes, and very likely will, out in 
the prairies and open western lands. 
A lobo is a sight to hope for, but ex¬ 
ceedingly unlikely. Tourists see bears, 
even away from the parks, as well as 
deer, elk, moose, antelope and other 
large game. A cougar would be a most 
memorable spectacle, worth visiting the 
Rockies just for the privilege. 
Danger from large wild beasts on 
tours is utterly negligible. But the 
chance of being bitten by a skunk may 
be considered. One hears a good deal 
about hydrophobia skunks. The truth 
seems to be that when dogs go mad 
they sometimes bite coyotes. The co¬ 
yotes, being thus maddened, range 
biting what they can, and the skunk 
being a slow, sluggish, self-sufficient 
brute, falls victim to the coyote. The 
skunk goes biting, in its madness, and 
it is altogether likely that the skunk 
has bitten humans. In fact, the litera¬ 
ture on the subject indicates that 
horses bitten by skunks have gone 
mad, and humans bitten by the same 
species of animals have died of rabies. 
But I have yet to hear of any tourist 
being thus bitten, or thus afflicted. The 
chance of it is exceedingly remote. If 
one sleeps on the ground, however, it 
is essential that the bottoms of 
the tent sides be tucked under 
the canvas ground cloth; or 
better yet, sewed in all around 
and the front raised, so that no 
walking, creeping or crawling 
thing is apt to find ingress. 
Sleeping on a running - board 
bed, or on folding cots, the 
chance of being bitten by a 
skunk is even less. 
Snakes are a different propo¬ 
sition. The tourist on a long 
trip is sure to see snakes along 
the highways. The car rolls 
over many a harmless serpent 
sunning in the highway. I saw 
a dead gopher snake, at least twelve 
feet long and perhaps two inches in 
diameter. I saw a hundred or more 
little field blacksnakes along an IoWa 
highway in a mile. 
The snake that stands forth most 
conspicuously in my memory is a 
bright, sky-blue snake that flashed for 
a moment within the range of my 
vision in Missouri. The true-blue racer, 
no doubt — a family relative of the 
blacksnake, a constrictor, and a deadly 
enemy of rattlesnakes. The snake was 
(Continued on page 734) 
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The experienced outdoorsman has no fear 
of “wild animals,” for he knows no need of it 
exists. However, those not used to the ways 
of the woods, contemplating a tour through 
wild country, are apt to be concerned 
about this question. This article contains 
much practical information about animals, 
snakes and insects to be met with on tour. 
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