The Tatra Mountains.

Résumé

About bears, marmots and suchlike. p. 104-109. The once rich fauna of the Tatra is largely on the ebb. The wolf is extinct and so are the lynx, the wild cat and the wolverine, though I have heard that some lynxes have survived in the wild woodland of the western part. But there are still about a dozen couples of brown bears (Ursus Arctos) roaming among the crags and forests of the Tatra, and if one is fond of berries, though I am not sure whether bears like bearberries, one has a chance of meeting a competitor who may not appreciate one's presence. On the whole, however, bears are quiet, shy creatures and, if not angered, behave politely. But a she-bear with cubs doesn't like to be disturbed in her maternal cares I have met one myself and never before or since have I climbed so fast on rocks so nearly perpendicular to have a better view of the other side of the mountain. Of non-carnivorous forest-dwellers, the stag would be the most impressive, had not a couple of European bisons been imported into the Tatra by Prince Hohehlohe. Chamois are quite plentiful and of the smaller inoffensive creatures a marmot (Marmota marmota) can be often seen basking in sunshine among the scree. He would be quite difficult to notice owing to his grey-browish fur, which resembles the colour of stones and dry grass. But his shrill whistle by which he warns his comrades of the approaching danger as he scuttles into a burrow can be heard for half a mile around among the stillness of the mountains.