The National tribune., 1889-10-31

miscalled the paBther-is dreaded by the great
bear who finds a bison bull an easy conquest
and that this much smaller animal is more
than match for him in actual conflict. How
far activity, ferOcity and effective weapons Of
OfIense may avail TO counterbalance strength
and weight it would be difficult 10 say. But if
the structurally more perfect creature does i'm
deed prevail in such contests. analogous cases
are not wanting. So far as evidence goes, there
is little doubt that the wild dog of India at
tacks, and this not in overwhelming numbers
the tiger. and is said by men whose testimony
is unhesitatingiy accepted on other subjects
sometimes 10 kill him, aud always to drive him
away from any locality in which he has taken
up his abode. However this may be- and
WHETHER THE GRIZZLY STANDS IN AWE OF
THE PUMA OR NOT,
his respect for man is very uncertain. Prob
ably in regions where improved rifles are plen-
tIful a certain impression has been made upon
his mind, and brute who i'm his blind fury, as
the author has heard Rocky Mountain authori-
ties asscverate, will " fight fire" may have be-
come modified in the manner Theodore RoOse
welt describes. Nowadays" he remarks, these
great bears are much better aware than for
merly OF the death-dealing power of man, and
as a consequence are far less fierce than was
the case with their lorefathers. Con-
slant contac. with ride carrying hunters dur
a period extending over many generations Of
bear life has taught the Grizzly by bitter ex-
perience that man is his undoubted over-lord
as far as fighting goes; aud this knowledge has
become a hereditary characteristic" Theoreti-
cally as well as practically also this is in the
main true, not only Of the creature in question,
but Of all others which have been much pur-
sued. On the other hand, the Grizzly is not
gifted animal, his temper is m0r0se aud savage
and he cannot be completely tanned IL the
tales told at eampfres by those who know him
well are at ali reliable, the brute has no respect
for anything except puma when be feels him
self aggrieyed; and besides this, his notions Of
what constitutes q provocation arc very in
definite At all events, the present writer came
10 unmltigated grief on one occasion, when IL
is quito certain that the aggression was upon
the part Of the hear.
II must by this time have plainly appeared
10 those who have read the different accounts
given by hunters Of the modes Of attack prac-
ticed by wild beasts that their discrepancies
depend not upon the fact that their statements
are all false, but, on the contrary that they arc
all true. The error lies in assuming the assault
seen by each particular observer TO be that
which is invariably made, and the source OF
mistake is the idea that animals act entirely
by instinct, and therefore always in the same
way.
Concerning the great cat mammalia, IL has
been well said that, other things being equal,
t'es vary Aue Habhef oi bheiI OIsIaughLs an
the prey and its position varies This is most
probably true Of all predatory animals. The
Grizzly bear is frequently nine feet long,
weighs 500 pounds, has formidable incisors and
iangs, Is very fierce, excessively strong, and all
four limbs terminate in long, iron-like, gouge-
shaped claws. These attributes have been de-
veloped, not for ornament, as many animal
| characteristics are, but for use, and it is ex-
tremely unlikely that men engaged in con-
! hict with creature 50 equipped should not
suffer a variety Of injuries which in fact they
do IL Is said by Schonberg, Lloyd and Falk
that the Brown bear Of Scandinavia never