The Wonders of the Jungle, Book Two

by Sarath Kumar Ghosh

But the battle was not yet over. Seeing that his gun had now failed, man used his wits to kill the wolf in another way. He set traps for the wolf; and he cunningly baited the traps with tempting food. Then the man went away from the traps. He thought that because he was not himself anywhere near the traps, the wolf would not be afraid to approach them. Well, at first some wolves did go up to the traps, and were caught by them.

But a few other wolves saw that fate of their unwary brothers. So those surviving wolves again set their wits to work to discover the cause of this new danger. And after a time they saw the steel traps. "So, this is our new enemy!" they said.

After that they avoided the traps, even if the traps were baited with the most tempting food. And they taught their children to do the same.

So again man was beaten in this battle of wits. He found that the trap could catch the wolf no more.

But man tried again. He hid the trap cunningly under leaves or under snow; only the tempting bait was placed in sight. He thought that because the wolf could not now see the trap, he would fall into it.

Well, some wolves did fall into it.

But a few other wolves saw the fate of their unwary brothers. So these surviving wolves again set their wits to work to discover a way of detecting the traps. Perhaps they saw the hunter's footprints; or perhaps they realized that the snow or the leaves covering the trap did not look natural. You remember, in Book I, how Salar's father detected a very tricky trap because the ground there did not look natural. Well, in some way, the surviving American wolves detected the traps, even when the traps were covered up. So after that they began to avoid these hidden traps, and they taught their children to do the same.

Man found himself beaten once more by the wolf in this battle of wits. He found that the American wolf could not be caught even by a hidden trap.

That again was a great achievement for the American wolf. Why? Because even the elephant, clever as he is, gets caught at last by a tricky trap, even if he avoids it for a long time. To do better than the elephant is a triumph indeed!

So far the hunter had tried to kill the wolf for the sake of the fur; and the wolf took no revenge for these years of persecution. He bore no grudge against man, and did not try to pay him off. The wolf merely wanted to live, and to be let alone. Man would not let him alone. He wanted to kill the wolf just for the sake of money.