By the time their mothers returned from their own hunts the two young predators had finished their meals, and though the two species were natural enemies, the truce held. The bears and seals waddled off in opposite directions, seeking quiet places to digest their in some cases still wriggling prey. Other predators ranging from wolves to sea lions, seals and large sea otters were likewise engaged in sleeping off their dinners.

The seal hunt was an almost unprecedented disaster from the perspective of the hunt organizers. Nearly a hundred men and a few women simply disappeared. The loss was blamed on an iceberg collapse and subsequent local tsunami, though it proved difficult to explain why not even one body was recovered.

By contrast the predators viewed the action as a complete success. Half of the seal hunters ended up in the bellies of aquatic preds and the rest got short tours of the digestive systems of various land creatures.

Best of all, from the point of view of the animals,the loss of a hundred men didn't even dent the population. With seven billion on the planet, they realized - as other predators had realized - that as long as they planned their hunting carefully they could eat all they wanted and never run out.

(This and other recent pics were drawn at Golden State Fur Con this last weekend. It doesn't take long to touch up a pencil drawing, thus the multiple recent uploads.)