Wichita eagle., 1888-09-23
TRAPPING THE GRIZZLY.
an OLD tiUNTER TELLS ABOUT
THE DANGERS or TIE SPORT.

| NN OlC FlON Elk iEELO PSOO !
THE DANGERS or TIE SPORT.
Favorite Food of the Fierce and HuIkins
oIonster-How q Grizzly Manages to
Get Loose from q Trap-A. Critical No
ment.
''The grizzly bear" says Trapper Read,
next to the Indian, is the ugliest customer
that the hunter, miner or prospector has 20
deal with. As far as danger is concerned. I
believe there is more in trapping the grizzly
than there is in chasing him with a rife.
Our traps are ponderous iron implements, as
heavy as three or four black bear traps, and
with jaws 50 stiff that it requires two men
! using lever to force them open so they can
be SET. We attach a strong chain TO the trap,
the same as you do for the playthings you
( call bear here In the east, but our chains are
+ strong enough for log chains. at the other
( end Of the chain is attached an iron ring or
I band six or eight inches in diameter. This is
I forced, by pounding it with maui, over the
end OF log six feet long and big enough
around TO make the iron band fit 50 tightly
around it that it can't be pulled of. When a
! grizzly steps on the pan Of one Of these great
! traps and the stiff jaws close on his leg, the
/ heavy log serves as hindrance to him as he
drags it along by the chain on lis retreat to
his haunts in the tangled thickets he favors
/ A great deal of cunning has to be used in set
| ting trap for grizzly bear, for he is al
most as suspicious IS the fox, and Will fire.
( quently desert what has the appearance of q
! good meal if he makes up his mind that dan
ger is lurking near. He never hesitates to
risk danger that he may see positively con-
| fronting or challenging him, in the way of
hunter, dog, or anything else, but a sus-
picious looking object, the nature of which
he cannot understand, is enough to start him
Oft about his business and to keep him NOV
ing until he has placed good extent Of ter
ritory between him and the mysterious cause
of his fear.
And what do you suppose is the favorite
food Of this farce and huIking monster,
Ground mice, moles, grubs and crickets.
What do you think of great bloodthirsty
beast, weighing 100 pounds, hunting and
devouring such Insignificant things as thesea
Yet grizzly bear will do that all day long
Once l trapped for several days for big
grizzly that was proving about q mining
camp where was staying, but ! failed in
every attempt l made TO lead the willy beast
into my steel. l was about to give him up as
bad job, when I heard q ground mouse
squealing near where the trap was set, and I
made up my mind to give the bear one trial
with few of these little chaps as lures
After long and tedious search caught
dozen mice, and covering up my trap care
lessly with some dead branches tied half a
0f mil Nv S%r 49,
ground around the trap. When visited the
spot an hour or so later I found Mr.. Grizzly
fast, with both of his paws in the trap The
mice had overcome his fears, and put him
out Of his trouble by loading him with few
rife balls. After that I would never have
used anything else but ground mice to tempt
grizzlies to my traps, but they are not an
easy thing to get hold of, and I had to do
without them except on rare occasions.
ave set our bear traps miles back in the
gloomy forests, where the grizzly bears love
to have their LARS among the tangled, fallen
timber, over which no enc can pass except
on foot, and then only with great difficulty
When l first went out in the grizzly's coun-
try, in 1s4a, there were no such things as re-
peating rifles or even breechloaders. All
had was heavy single barreled rife to do
my hunting with for several years. To come
upon an ugly grizzly, weighing half ton or
so, and probably not only ready but anxious
Tor fight, was something that meant BUSH
ness to man with single barreled gun.
Il believe that the experience of ell grizzly
bear trappers has proved that grizzly will
invariably escape from a trap if he is not
overtaken by the hunter within a few hours
after being caught. It is to lessen the danger
Of this that all the skillful trappers fasten the
clog to the trap with the chain on one end OF
it. Some trappers fasten the chain at the
middle Of the log, but that shows that the
man don't know his business With the
chain fastened at the end of the clog it is
dragged along endwise, and clears all OBJ
structions that would catch and hold it cross
wise If it were dragged from the middle.
Nine times out of ten q grizzly viii be caught
by the trap not far from the extremity OF
one Of his fore paws. Very rarely can it
happen that both paws are in the trap On
being caught the bear ruShes with all the
speed he can summon, and In tremendous
rage, toward the nearest swamp or thicket,
neither Of which he has to go far to find He
seems to know that his life depends on his
speedily Kidding himsely Of the incumbrance
of the trap. As he tears onward through the
forest he mows great swaths in the under
brush. He drags the trap and clog against
trees, logs and rocks, and whenever some
obstruction helds them fast he tugs and
jerks his imprisoned foot, trying to
tear it loose II the chain held the
clog in the middle the bear would
not go far before the drag would be caught
between two trees and held securely Then
one or two determined lunges backward by
the bear with his enormous body would tear
the foot loose, and the grizzly would escape
to the swamp.
The further a grizzly bear goes on his
furious march without Kidding himself Of the
trap the greater his rage becomes II it hap
pens to strike against tree and does not
hold there he viii turn on the tree and tear
its trunk with his teeth, sometimes crashing
half the trunk away. l have followed the
trails of grizzlies through the thick timber
while they were elCeavorilg TO free them
selves Of their traps and have counted sap
ling after saphng chewed TO the ground as
completely as If they had been chopped down
with an ax, the trees being covered with
blood from the wounds made or the mouths
Of the bears in their blind rage.
ITO come up with half ton grizzly bear
while he is In such a condition OF temper is
like meeting a cyclone. As you follow the
trail, which is usually long way through
the forest, and probably mile or more into
q swamp where you can see but few yards
about you In any direction, you arc con-
stantly expecting the bear to rise up some
where and charge upon You Ike an ava
lanche. There have been times when trap
pers have come UP with the bear st the very
moment when lie has at last succeeded II