Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1888-04-23
FOOling With Cubs.

old, no matter what particular breed
of the varmint it belongs to-grizzlv,
cinnamon, or what not. Neverthe-
less, by fooling with bear cub a
fellow can easily get himself into a
bigger rumpus than if he had tackled
full grown animal to begin with.
Take a cub and it's mother together
and the combination is every bit as
dangerous as two full grown bears.
Not because the youngster is liable
to take any part in the fight, but be-
cause the old she bear will fight a
heap savager and die harder on ac-
count of the cub, every time. If you
want to see an old squaw bear turn
| herself wrong side out with fury and
cave around until her eyes throw off
sparks, all you have to do is to get
cornered up betwixt her and her cub,
as | once happened to.
1t came about one day while Sage
UIuSil Dill anu tIo Gll &C EllS llolluieH
were out in the mountain hunting,
and | was staying at home to look
| after the camp. Our camp was in a
little mountain park near the head
waters of the Rosebud on the Crow
reservation, Montana. Our mules
were picketed in a sort of off-shoot
of the park, a short distance away
where there was plenty of bunch
grass, and [ was just returning from
watering them and shifting them over
to new ground one morning, when /
stumbled upon a brown bear cub
about four months old. The sight of
cub abroad at that age without its
mother is SO very unusual that con-
cluded at once it must be an orphan,
and gave chase with the idea of
rounding it up. | had no gun or re-
volver with me, nothing in fact but
my bowie, for, as l say, l had mere
ly strolled over from camp to water
and shift the mnles. The cub was a
lively and muscular little whelp, with
legs almost as thick as it's body; and
as | took after him. he hustled along
through the pines at pace that made
me hump in order to keep him com
pany. | might have run some faster,
may be, except for pretty lively
suspicion that the youngster might
turn out after all not to be an or
phan. A long experience with Big
Horn mountain bears had taught me
to entertain a good wholesome re-
spect for bear cubs mother, and
didn't exactly feel like chasing this
particular whelp right into its moth
er's arms, with no other weapon
handy than a bowie.
After following the cub about a
mile, however, decided that it must |
be an orphan beyond a doubt; other
wise the old bear would have turned |
up, and so | put on a little more
speed. Finding itself pressed pretty |
hard, the young bear lodged this way
and that, doubled around patches of |
juniper, and finally scuttled up big |
red cedar.
| once heard tenderfoot tourist,
uhop, Sonahrucb op1 7 0u;JoJ +bro, |
the Yellowstone park, read bear
yarn out of a down east book, in
which it was claimed that 4-months-
old cub can't climb tree any bigger
round than it can span with its fore
arms. That only goes to show what
sort of truck they print in books, and
how much down casters know about
bears, anyhow. Out here brown
bear at that age can shinny up tree
three feet in diameter easy, if the
bark is only rough enough to give
him good claw hold.
While l stood looking at him, un-
decided whether to follow him up into
the tree or go back to camp after my
Winchester, the cub settled himself
in fork about thirty feet high. With
his tongue lolling out and painting for
breath, he sat and looked down at
his pur>uer with an expression in
which fear and curiosity made most
comical mixture. 1t was probably a
mile to camp, and, afraid that the
cub might escape if left him, fin
ally decided to climb up and settle
him with my bowie. His anxiety
and fear were something laughable
to witness as he watched me start to
climb the tree, and he began whining
and crying like baby. 1t wasn't a
very easy tree for man to climb, for
the rough bark afforded him
hand and foot hold, after a fashion,
there were no branches for the first
twenty feet. The cub retreated high
er up the tree, whining and crying
and looking anxiously about for some
avenue of escape, but always keeping
we'll out of reach.
I had been chasing it around in
this manner for several minutes and
trying to corner it up, without success,
when all of sudden there came a
terrific roar right at the foot of the
tree 1t was the old she bear, the
cubs mother. and she was almost be-
side herself with rage. Both the cub
and l had been too busy watching
each other to notice anything else,
and neither of us had observed the
she bear until she startled the woods
with her savage roar. For moment
the cub seemed to forget me in its
delight at seeing its natural protect.
or, and with an appealing whinny it
begged the old bear to come up and