Many of them are stung by rattlesnakes. The wolves, in a
hard winter, pull down a lot of the cows, and sometimes, though not so
often, the grizzlies get after them. Take all these things into account,
figure up the payroll for the help, the freight charges on your
shipments, and it's no wonder that many a man finds a balance on the
wrong side of the ledger in lean seasons. No, it isn't all 'peaches and
cream' in ranching."
"You spoke of grizzlies a minute ago," said Dick, whose sporting blood
had tingled at mention of the name. "Are there many of those fellows
around here?"
"Not so many as there used to be," replied Mr. Melton. "They're being
pushed further and further north as the country gets more settled. Still
there are enough around to make it advisable to keep your eye peeled for
trouble whenever you get a little way further up in the mountains. Every
once in a while we find the body of a steer partly eaten, and we can
always tell when a grizzly has pulled it down."
"How's that?" asked Tom.
"By the way he covers it up," answered Melton. "He always heaps up a pile
of brush or dried grass over the carcass.
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