Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-12
ARE GOOD FRIENDS
Jimmy, Actaeon and Romu-
lus.
BEAR, PAWN AND WOLF
WILD GUESTS, BUT MANAGE TO
AGREE ALRIGHT.
Cub Goes Off to Spend His Nights and
Gives Scare No.. and
Then.
EAR, FAWN AND WOLF

Living now in a thinly-Settled part of the
country, with my nearest neighbor half a
mile. and the next one mile away, I am
able to allow my wild guests more freedom
than ever Two of them, Jimmy" the
bear cub, and ''Actaeon," the fawn, are
never shut up at all; they go and come, to
and from the woods, precisely when they
like, "Romulus,'' the prairie wolf, has much
the same privilege, except that he is put in
to a large cage every night to be liberated
early in the morning. These three are con-
slant companions; they play and romp with
each other like children. and, like chill
dren they squabbe sometimes. In DISPOSE
ton, of course, they differ greatly, though
all of them are fairly good natured. The
wolf is the bad boy of the three; always
ready to tease or annoy one of the others,
and usually clever enough to avoid pun
ishment for his offenses. The fawn is
peaceably disposed as long as he Is let
alone, but high-strung and nervous, and
quickly worked up to a point where he Will
not only defend himself. but will become
furiously aggressive. The bear is slow and
rather Indifferent to the doings of the two,
except at such times as those doings In
terfere with his personal comfort. Often he
wanders off by himself, and usually spends
the night away from home. Just where he
sleeps 1 cannot always tell, but this I
know, that when my nearest neighbor was
about to retire the other night, he found
Jimmy asleep in his bed Jimmy" is a
firSt-rate climber, ana he had entered the
open bed room window, and made himself
very much at home. And even after the
rightful occupant appeared on the scene, II
required more than soft words to persuade
Jimmy" to evacuate. All my own bed
room windows are opened with a view to
admitting the maximum amount of air
without permitting the entrance of ten
monthS-old bear.
Jimmy's Troubles.
"Jimmy's" chief troubles just now are
caused by the wolf and by the burrs which
adhere to his heavy coat. And often enough
these two causes of annoyance work to-
gether. Made uncomfortable by the burrs,
the bear will sit on his launches and, using
his long front claws as a comb, he will
work away steadily until the wolf sneaks
up behind and gives him a sly nip, when
with an angry cough he will turn and give
chase to the coyote. The latter is very
calm over it, and, neatly avoiding the mad
rush of the bear allows the latter to slow
up, turn clumsily round and make another
rush, which, of course, is avoided like the
first. After being nipped in this way few
times Jimmy" usually escapes his tormen-
tor by climbing a tree. or by crawling under
the piazza, a stronghold which the wolf has
more sense than to enter.
Interests Clash.
"Jimmy's'' relations with the fawn are
clashng of interests. They are both fond
of bread and when bread is served neither
one of them is absent if he can help it. If
the deer gets a slice which is too large for
him he daintily chews one end of it, and
gradually draws the rest of it in, But I'M
less the bear happens to be very much oc-
cupled he promptly seizes the end which is
protrudlnS, and, pulling the slice away
gobbles it up himself, and the deer as
though to reprove him for his selfshness,
will of f.il
with sharp fore hoof. But Jimmy sell
dom resents such a blow. Perhaps he does
not care to take the trouble, or perhaps he
allows it for the reason given by a certain
strong man, who, when asked why he al
lowed his wife to pummel him, replied: 1T
pleases her, and it don't hurt me-" Now
and then. however, the bear will seek a
friendly bout with the deer, but the liter
usually takes great pains to keep out of
reach at such times. If, when in a playful
mood, the bear sees the fawn walking on
the piazza. he is almost sure to make a
rush, as though with the intention of cor
nering his agile playfellow But "Actaeon'
is not to be caught in this way for, taking
quick stride or two, he clears the rail at
bound, and is soon half way round the
garden, while Jimmy stops and turns his
head in another direction, as though the
deer were the very last thing on earth
likely to occupy his attention.
Wolf Got It Back.
At first the fawn was much afraid of the
young wolf. and would dash away at first
sight of him. and, often not, the wolf
would pursue with every intention\o of doing
the little deer an injury. But there came
a day when the deer did not run and
after the wolf had nipped it slyly from be-
hind several times, something suddenly
happened. The hitherto gentle fawn turn
ed on his tormentor, and, though the lat
ter ran off at his best pace, he was pur-
sued and quickly overtaken, knocked down
and hammered numerically with the fore
feet of the fawn, who, with tail and ears
erect, danced over the body of his antagon-
list, and would surely have killed him had
L not considered it time to interfere.
Gentle and courageous the fawn is
ne Is as high-strung ever, and some
times his nervousness causes him to do as
tonlshing things. Yesterday, while we were
at dinner, something startled the little fell
low, and he leaped right through closed
window into the ROOM alighting on the floor
amid cascade of glass. He was slightly
cut In two or three places, but otherwise
none the worse for his unusual perform
ance. ERNEST HAROLD BAYNES