# Popular Mechanics/Volume 49/Issue 1/Hunting Bears with a Camera

By H. L. DILLAWAY
For twenty years I have been hunting some of the biggest game in America, though I have never carried a gun in all that time. For two decades I have photographed bears and written about them.
And still the most frequent question asked me is whether bears are dangerous. The answer is that neither bears nor any other wild game in America is dangerous when you are letting them alone, or when something else has not happened to disturb them. But bears are individualists, just as much as human beings, and they respond to life in much the same way. We don't regard the human race as being dangerous because some people occasionally kill, and the same is true of bears.
In twenty years of hunting with a camera. I have chased bears and been chased by them, but I think it is easier to make a bear run away than to get him to run toward you. Bears may attack under certain circumstances, mother bears, for example, defending their cubs, but not all mother bears will do that, and quite a few of them will run away and desert their offspring. They really are as scared by man as he is of them.
I recall one day when a friend and I were walking along a mountainside and unwittingly passed by a mother bear's den. We heard her come out and dash away through the brush, so we turned back, located the den, entered and brought out three young cubs. They squalled and bawled terribly, but the mother did not come back, that day or any other, for we watched the den frequently to see if she would return. Had she kept quiet, we never would have known there was a bear den near. but as it was, our passing along apparently ran her clear out of the country.
She got her revenge, though, for we paid dearly for the capture of those cubs. Every night for weeks they would wake up and squall until the nursing bottle was forthcoming, and never did all three get hungry at the same hour.
I have seen hundreds of bears, photographed them, studied them and tracked them. but I have never been scratched or mauled by one. I would rather take my chances, however, with any wild animal than a semi-wild one which, through captivity, has lost most of its fear of man.
A bear's eyesight is not good, and the best system when you meet one unexpectedly, is to remain perfectly still—or else charge. I have charged several bears, jerking off my coat and waving it wildly in their faces, and they have promptly turned tail and fled. Climbing a tree, if the bear belongs to the black or brown species, is useless, for they are both good tree climbers. A grizzly, on the other hand, is not, so a tree offers a safe refuge from "old Silver Tip."
​Bears are very short-tempered, which explains most of their dangerousness. It is largely a matter of individuality, however. One bear will ignore a thing that will make another fighting mad, and on another day their dispositions may be found quite reversed.
What they lack in eyesight, they more than make up in hearing and sense of smell. I know of one fully authenticated instance where a bear smelled carrion twenty-five miles away and headed directly for it.
Pair of Small Cubs Discovering That the Trunk of a Dead Tree Is Not a Safe Refuge, and a Mother Bear. with a Rather Large Family, Snapped in an Unconscious Moment in the Woods
In the hunt to photograph wild game, you are likely to run into new experience.. Your wits must always be working. One afternoon I was dead tired. I had scaled a high cliff and photographed a nest of baby eagles. Then I sat down to rest. I must have dozed. Suddenly I awoke, for no reason at all—just instinct. Not ten feet away was the largest brown bear I had ever seen. Bears were new to me then and I was scared stiff. The bear stood directly in front of me, waving his immense head from side to side. I never batted an eyelash; I couldn't. At last he moved away, went wearily over and sat ​on a big log, just like a tired old man. He sat there with his forepaws banging down to his side, limp. I never saw a bear do that before or since. Bears like to stand on their hind legs, particularly the younger ones. As they grow heavier and older they are less likely to stand up. Cubs will spar standing up, and I have seen two-year-old, wild silver-tip grizzlies do the same thing.
Bears are large, bulky and look clumsy. They have an odd wallowing, rolling, head-swaying motion peculiar to themselves. To the uninitiated they seem to be slow, but a bear can stop a squirrel, mouse or gopher with a paw movement so quick that the eye can scarcely follow, and, as for speed, they can easily outrun a man. I once had a splendid chance to race a bear along a parallel woodland trail. We started together and I did my best, but, in no time he had left me far behind.
Another opportunity to try out an experiment on one of the largest black bears I had ever seen, offered on one occasion. I came across him suddenly, and we stood face to face on a path. I used a cowboy's trick to "rush him," for I wanted to see if I could scare such an immense animal up a tree. I only had a moment to work but figured he would run. I took off my coat, waved it in his face, and "rushed him" up that tree. I was utterly amazed at his speed as he went straight up. He set his hind legs under him and gave jerky jumps until he was well up among the limbs, when he turned about and faced me. He was apparently more surprised than angry and looked down as much as to say, "What in blazes is the matter with you?" When I walked away. he still bore the same expression.
MAIL DROPPED FROM AIRPLANE FOR FOREST PATROL
Climbing Up to Meet the Airplane intail at Forest-Patrol Station, and Close View of Pilot Dropping the Bundle
No one experiences greater joy at the arrival of the mailman than the forest lookout at his lonely post in the western mountains, but the sky, not the roads, is watched in this case, for the mail is delivered by plane. Special orders from the chief as well as other communications are dropped in a small package as the airplane, maintained by the forest-patrol service, glides down near the lookout tower and then zooms away for another delivery, miles away.
¶ We want all our readers to write us freely and often whenever they wish additional information on articles published in this magazine. Address Bureau of Information, Popular Mechanics, Chicago.
LIFE RAFT INFLATED BY GAS AS PARACHUTE DROPS
Just off the Plane, Opening the Raft and Blowing It Up, Then Safe on the Potomac River
A recent test by marine-corps aviators has established the feasibility of including deflated rubber rafts among the safety devices of flyers. After reaching an altitude of 3,000 feet, in a training plane piloted by Lieut. V. M. Guymon, of Salt Lake City, Utah, Corp. R. L. Huffman stepped from the craft. At 2,925 feet, his parachute opened, and he unpacked the raft and inflated it with the two tubes of carbon dioxide which he carried. Three minutes after leaving the plane, he dived into the Potomac river and, immediately bobbing up, swam to retrieve the parachute and fasten it to the raft. Putting together the two-piece oars, he then calmly rowed to shore. The cylinders of carbon dioxide used to inflate the raft are only about twelve inches long and four inches in diameter. By turning the cylinder, carbon dioxide is discharged into the raft, inflating it almost instantaneously, or, in fact, in less than thirty seconds.
A PERMANENT WAVE FOR TREES
Walnut trees with figured grain throughout the entire trunk are extremely rare, and efforts to cultivate them are being made by grafting the top branches of a highly figured tree to seedling walnut roots. It is hoped that this process may result in a tree with the beautiful grain so much desired for fine furniture and veneers. It is said that only about one in the half million walnut trees cut each year is an "unusual prize" as a source of the best and most fancied wood. The cause of the curly grain is somewhat of a mystery. Its occurrence at the stump has been attributed to the swaying of the tree in the wind or to the crowding of the wood laid on an inside curve of the tree.
SLEEVES FOR TROUSER LEGS LATEST STORM GUARDS
Waterproof protectors for trouser legs, which can be slipped on in a few seconds and carried in the pocket when not in use, have been introduced in England. They are simply pulled on over the shoes, button in front and keep the trousers dry from the knee to the shoe top. An elastic band holds them in place at the top, as shown.
¶ Whenever you find that you wish to know more about any article in this magazine, write our Bureau of Information.
ARTISTIC BRICK BUILDINGS SHOW GERMAN SKILL
Courtesy Chicago Art Institute Unique Effects with an Old-Style Material: Examples of Recent Brick Architecture in Germany
Since about 1100 A. D., when monks from Italy started making brick churches in Germany, Prussian craftsmen have excelled in the art of brick manufacture, and evidence that their skill has not declined with the years is seen in modern structures of the material being erected in Germany. The illustrations shown are all in the modern German style and utilize brick to advantage in emphasizing the plain, angular designs and broad surfaces.
FLORAL CLOCK AT CANDY STORE HELPS DRAW TRADE
From an old clock, a French merchant has devised an effective advertising display to attract customers. The dial of the instrument is of parchment, the hands are in the form of large bees and the hour markings are different flowers. As the clock ticks away, the "bees" pass from flower to flower, suggesting the gathering of sweets in which the merchant specializes.
BATHERS' PUSH WHEEL ADDS SPORT TO SWIMMING
Enjoying a Merry-Go-Round in the Swimming Pool; While Some of the Bathers Push the Platform with the Handles, Others Endeavor to Cling to the Rim
Bathers at a municipal natatorium in Davenport, Iowa, have fun on a push wheel that shoots persons seated on it into the water after it has attained sufficient velocity. Beneficial exercise is received in rotating it, and the riders have sport in trying to stay on as long as possible, although a final ducking is almost certain.
SUGAR WAS USED AS MEDICINE IN EARLY AGES
Humanity apparently has had a "sweet tooth" for ages, but sugar was first used as a medicine by the Arabian doctors about the seventh century A. D., according to a history of the substance prepared by the Pan-American Union. From those early times, and into the Middle Ages, sugar was confined mainly to medicinal purposes and could only be afforded by wealthy persons. Today, America yearly constimes about 118 pounds per capita.
AWNING IS ADJUSTED TO SUN TO PROTECT GOODS
Store awnings in strips that can be turned to admit more or less sunlight, as the time of day or position of the canopy require, have been introduced as an improvement over the one-piece variety. The strips are less likely to hold water when the awning is down in time of rain and are not so liable to be ignited by cigaret or cigar stubs tossed from above, as there are gaps between the bands to allow objects to drop through. The strips can be turned to shield the contents of the display window and yet not exclude so much light that the merchandise cannot be plainly seen.
Sectional Awning, Set Angularly like Skylights, to Shield Goods without Excluding All the Sunlight
STEM REMOVER AIDS GRAPE-CANNING INDUSTRY
Development of a new phase of the canning industry is promised in the introduction of a unit which removes the stems from seedless grapes. It is said to have an output of five tons in a nine-hour day and to do the work at a cost of less than $4 a ton. The grapes are dumped into a hopper and, as they pass through the outfit, they are caught by revolving brushes and pushed through a network of small, upright steel pins. Thus the bunches are broken up. The small stem is removed by passing the grapes over small rubber cylinders arranged in pairs. Canning of grapes has been done on a small scale for several years, but the excessive cost of stemming them by hand workers hitherto has prevented the widespread development of the industry.
MOVIE CAMERA AND PROJECTOR TAKE PICTURES ON PAPER
Motion pictures on film or paper are taken with a camera recently introduced in England. Combined with it, is a projector showing the photographs. The paper film is projected by reflected light with the aid of two special lamps attached to the outfit and is said to give sharpness and definition on the screen in no way inferior to the film. The camera can be loaded in daylight, the projector shows pictures over six feet high and the set is inexpensive.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN AS LAWYER SHOWN IN LATEST STATUE
Courtesy Clyde Brown Lorado Taft Finishing Model of the Lincoln Statue Which Has Been Erected at Urbana, Ill.
How Lincoln probably looked while pleading a case in court is seen in the latest notable Lincoln statue, made by Lorado Taft for Urbana and Champaign, Ill. It was recently unveiled near the courthouse and in front of the hotel, which stands on the site of the old inn where Lincoln stopped when his business took him to the "twin cities." The figure is of bronze and the monument is ten feet high.
"SICK" FLOWERS ARE REVIVED BY ARTIFICIAL SUNLIGHT
At a fashionable London restaurant, a "sunlight lamp" is used to treat sickly potted plants. A wild orchid bloomed in eight hours after exposure to the health-giving rays and a faded bouquet, worn by a woman, was placed under the light to revive it.