The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1891-12-17
PRS AND MoosEs.


y
| Bear.
The bear in Russia is what the bull Is
in Spain-the common enemy. Every
body looks upon il Is the most praise
worthy of actions to take q bears life
whenever and wherever possible. Yet
| In spite of this constant war upon his
kind, Bruin manages to live and have q
gay time.
The Russian bear Is the common
Drown bear found in large mum bers in
the Pyrenees. and in Russia and Siberia
especially. very numerous. This I'M
wieldy and crafty animal is omniverons,
which makes him very disagreeable
neighbor for farmers and for any one
possessing garden and stable yard.
| When he is young the bear lives on
acorns, chestnuts, walnuts, fresh fruits,
roots, mushrooms, grain, eggs, worms
and even insects His bill Of fare is
I very varied and he is always hungry.
As he gets older he develops taste
iferfresh=meatIreferablyth that Of In.
man beings If he can't get a man he
will take fat pig; but his decided
preference is for man. Therefore, man
IS naturally and eternally at war with
him.
The chase of the bear has always
been considered sport for sovereigns in
Russia. Until young prince hos slain
his first bear he cannot be considered
to have shown his courage under arms.
The imperial court has whole set of
vehicles and weapons specially planned
for this dangerous hunt, and many a
car has been cuffed and Rugged by a
bear.
The famous Emperor Nicholas was
the greatest of all modern Russian
bear-hunters His exploits are legend
airy. More than once his life was saved
only by his extreme GOODNESS. He was
once down with a huge bear on top of
him ready tocrush him, yet he escaped
1t is related that the hair of one of the
courtiers, who was member of the
hunting party, turned snow-white dur
ing the few minutes of desperate strug-
gle between bear and emperor. The
poor courtier fully expected the en-
peror to be killed, and believed that he
would be punished for allowing his i'm
perial master to run into danger.
In Siberia the peasants and small
farmers are perpetually looking out for
bears and are never happier than when
chasing one or trapping him. In this
latter sport they are especially ingeni-
GUS.
Bear-hunting is very profitable. To
| free the neighborhood of benrs means
freedom for the focks and less damage
to the growing crops. Besides bear
meat is considered as great delicacy
in Siberia as in our western states.
And last but by no means least the
bear skins serve for carpets, robes,
rugs, caps and. hundred other pur-
poses.
The capture of bear is the occasion
for great festivals in the villages
through which the carcass of Bruin is
borne in triumphal parade. The pro-
cession is usually interrupted by the
intoxication CT the participants, who
celebrate with too much kwoss and
vodki.
The manner in which bears are
trapped in Siberia is amusing, because
it shows such accurate and profound
knowledge of the nature and habits of
Mr.. Bruin.
The dominant principle in the bears
character is excessive suspicion. As
he is possessed of senses of almost
miraculous sharpness, it is decidedly
difficult to get around him." If Ut were
not for his besetting sin, his darling
weakness, gluttony, the Siberian peas
ants would never get him into their
clutches at all. But bait trap with
honey or with raspberries, of both of
which he is passionately fond, and he
sacrifices his native caution to his ap-
petite and is lost.
Beehives are often robbed by bears,
even when they are but q few yards
from a peasants cottage. The rasp-
berry thickets which cover whole acres
in Siberia, are always favorite haunts
of the bears at the season when the
fruits are ripe As may well be mag
ined tho bears do not pick the berries
one by one. They sit down on their
launches and, clutching great mass
of bushes with their huge hairy fore
paws, they bite off great masses of
fruits and leaves and briars at once, at,
the same time keeping up noise some-
thing like the purring of monster cat
and expressive of their extreme salts
faction.
In these thickets the peasants dig
deep pits, and garnish the bottoms of
them with very sharp wooden spikes,
the blunt ends Of which are driven firm
ly into the ground. The pits are then
artfully covered with broken boughs
and leaves so as to simulate the appear
ance of the forest soil. OF course, these
clever traps are always set in close
proximity to the most tempting rasp-
berry bushes.
AS soon as bear falls into one of
these pits and is wounded on the sharp
stakes, he roars and growls so that he
can be heard for miles. and the peas
ants, running up, put an end to him
with guns and spears and clubs.
But of all the Siberian traps for bears
none is more ingenious or displays a
more delicate and far-seeing sense of
com bination than .'the lasso and the
block"
Aelong cord, very strong and several
yards long. is attached at one end to a
huge log of wood, and at the other ex-
trernity q running moose is rugged and
artfnlly concealed in the center of a
mass of brushed leaves. This moose is
SO arranged that Bruin. in order to get
at peculiarly tempting mess Of rasp-
berries, which his gluttonish eyes see
not far away, must put his head
through it. The moose falls loosely
about his neck aud does not trouble
him until he begins to move away.
when the weight Of the log of wood
tightens the rope, and Bruin finds that
he cannot breathe.
After two or three angry trials to
pull ahead, like dog attached by a
rope, when walking with his master,
the bear growls and follows back the
rope until he comes to the log. He
IA Il a a ~ A.