Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-11-27
BEARS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
An Old Hunters Description O
Some of Their Peculiarnaies.

Philadelphia Ledger and Transcript
There are stu extensive forests OF beech and
oak In the counties OF Wayne Pike and Mon
roe, In Pennsylvania, and in the adjacent COM
TIES OF Sullivan and Delaware, In New YORK,
with vast areas OF outlying swamp land OF lau-
within hearing distance OF the Erie railway. but
even at this late day the black bear makes In
men, us iavoIite breeding and feeding haunts,
IS it did before civilization had mace apy al
vance in the region.
FROM an old bear hunter OF Pike county it
was was learned that there are more signs OF bears
thlS iall tnan have been known Tor years Along
tne e0ges OF the great swamps there is border
OF sort, Diack mud. These swamps are many
OF them, almost inaccessible to man, aud che
pears make them their places OF refuge. If
pears are plenty the mud along the edges, at
this time OF year, will be broken I'D, as ii cows
had peen walking and stamping In it. At In
tervals, also, the mud viii be followed out In
spots eight or ten feet long, two or three wide.
and two feet deep. If great patches OF scrub
oaks o are found crushed TO the ground, that is
ing" there. They have been out feeding on the
acorns They rise upon their launches among
the scrub, and with their fore paws beat the
eriekets, slugs and bugs Of all kinds, and they
Know that their favoIite insects make their
homes IN the fall under stones on the ground
consequently, they select spots where the
them up to get at the bugs. yellow JACKET
and hornet nests, or rather their contents, are
1aVorlte moTSelS With the black bear. II a bear
gees yeiioW Jacket or hornet working In the
woods. he acts like crazy thing until he finds
the hole the one enters, or the tree or rock TO
Which the nest OF the other is fastened. He
Frances and dances around through the woods.
licking his chops, and whining aud growing,
until his unerring scent leads him to the object
OF his search. Then he gets right down to bus
mess esSn Iell9 S Jackets build their nests in the
few sWoops OF his fore paws to turn it wrong
SIDE out. The bees swarm out In Clouds and
cover the bear until he looks as If painted vel
low. ne pays no attention to their attacks. al
though an assault OF yellow jackets On almost
any other animal would soon result in death
he bear merely shuts his eyes and gr1ns as
he scoops the honey out with his paws and ticks
them off until the nest is despoiled OF every
trace OF Its sweets. The old hunter declares
that he shot big bear once in Pinchot swamp,
over In the High Knob region. He killed 1t, but
found that the bear had been robbing a yellow
Jackets nest, and 1t was still covered with the
hery little insects. "If that bar had been
wounded o!,nd only. and had showed fight, I'd a
waited right into 1t without any delay. But
when one o. them cuSsed little tailed var
mints Of yailer jacket come divin' at me-
aidnt want none O. him. and cut and run. l
yaller bee scared me out. / didn't dare to 90
arter that bar till next day."
Hornets build their nests high up In the
OF the reach of harm. But, cunning as these
insects are, they are nc match for the bear A
bear discovers hornets nest far out on limb
too small to bear his weight, Or high up on the
breast OF rock. If the former he climbs the
tree breaks off the longest branch he can get
and, holding it in his fore-paws, thrashes the
nest until 1t drops to the ground Sometimes
he dances or stamps on the limb until the nest
Is shaken Off. II the nest is on a rock, the bear
goes up to the top Of the ledge above it. Then
ne gathers large stones and pieces of wood and
rolls them down On the side OF the rock until
one strikes the nest and sends it tumbnng to
the ground below. The hornets seem to know
what has caused their ruin, and not one of
them deserts the fallen nest, but all seem to
wait for the appearance Of the bear, when they
attack him at once.
"A hornet sting" says the Old hunter, is
equal to blow from a sedge-hammer every
time, and one hornetll knock a bull down.
But their bite won't raise a lump as big as q
buckshot on bar, and the shaggy critter
seems to think IT'S heap o. fun. He'll stand
up on his hind legs and square Off with his fore
paws at the hornets jest as If he was boxin'
with somebody. only he's durn careful to keep
his eyes shet. Then he'll lay down and roll all
over the rest, as If he wanted to show the
hornets how he DIDN'T care no more for em
than as If they was gnats Once see a big she
bar. which had knocked a hornets nest as big
as peck measure off'n tree. take it under
her arm and walk OH with it as cool as If 1t was
one O. her cubs"