The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1892-03-04
BRUINS Many WOES.
THE POOR OLD FELLOW HAS A
HARD TIME OF 1T.


The bear in Russia is what the bull is
in Spain-the common enemy. Every
body looks upon it as the most praise
worthy of actions to take bears life
whenever and wherever possible. Yet in
spite Of this constant war upon his kind,
bruin manages to live and to have gay
time.
The Russian bear is the common brown
bear found in large numbers in the Py-
renees, and in Russia and in Siberia
especially, very numerous. This un-
wieldy and very crafty animal is
Omnivorous, which makes him a
disagreeable neighbor for farmers
and for anyone possessing garden and
stable yard. When he is young the bear
lives ou acorns, chestnuts, walnuts, fresh
fruits, roots. mushrooms, grain, eggs,
worms, and even insects. His bill of
fare is very varied, and he is always
hungry. AS he gets older he develops a
taste for fresh meat, preferably that of
human beings. If he can't get man he
will take fat pig, but his decided pref
erence is for man. Therefore. man is
naturally and eternally at war with him.
The chase of the bear has always been
considered sport for soveregns in Russia.
Until a young prince has slain his first
bear he can not be considered to have
shown his courage under arms.
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 ingen-
ious. Bear hunting is very profitable.
To free the neighborhood of bears means
freedom for the flocks, and less damage
to the growing crops Besides, bears
meat is considered as great delicacy in
Siberia as in our Western States.
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 miracu.
lous sharpness, it is decidedly difficult to
get around him. If it were not for his
besetting SIM his darling weakness, glut.
tony, the Siberian peasants would never
get him into their clutches at all.
Beehives are often robbed by bears,
even when they are but few yards from
peasants cottage. The raspberry thick.
cts, 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 imagined, the bears do
not pick the berries one by one. They
sit down on their launches, and clutch
ing great mass of bushes with their
huge. hairy forepaws, they bite off great
passes of fruits and leaves and briars all
D once, at the same time keeping up a
noise something like the purring of a
monster cat, and expressive of their ex.
treme satisfaction.
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 firmly into the
ground. The pits are then artfully
covered with broken boughs and leaves,
so rs to simulate the appearance of forest
soil. AS soon as bear falls into one of
these pits and is wounded on the sharp
stakes, he roars and growls 80 that he
can be heard for miles, and the peasants
put an end to him with guns and spears.
But of all the Siberian traps for bears,
none is more ingenious or displays more
delicate and far seeing sense of combi-
nation than the "lasso and the block.
A long cord, very strong and several
yards long, is attached at one end to a
huge log of wood, and at its other extrem-
ity running moose is rigged and artfully
concealed in the center of a mass of
brushed leaves. This moose is SO ar
ranged that bruin, in order to get at
peculiarly tempting mess of raspberries,
which his gluttonish eyes see not far
away, must put his head through it. The
moose falls loosely about his neck. and
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 can not breathe. After two
or three angry trials to pull ahead, like
dog attached by a rope, when walking
by his master, the bear growls and fol.
lows back the rope until he comes to the
log He picks it up and bites it, shakes
it. fights it, throws it down, and starts off
again; but anew the fatal cord tugs at
his windpipe and his eyes are starting
from their sockets. Twice or three times
ne goes back to fight the log Of wood.
Then finding that this does not help him,
he takes up the log and carries it off in
his arms or in his forepaws Then he
looks about for high precipice or lofty
rock from which to throw the offending
log. The moment he finds one he pitches
the log violently over, and is, of course,
pulled over after it and killed by the fall
OF so choked that he is easily captured.
Another ingenious trick which rarely
fails is the bringing of a very heavy block
of wood, suspended by cord from a
bough directly in front of beehive in
:he hollow trunk of tree. When the
bear comes to rob the hive he pushes
away the block from the door of the hive
and is surprised to find that it comes back
and strikes him in the neck. This awak-
ems his rage. Anxious to get the honey
he gives the block terrible push, and of
course it returns with all the moro vio-
Ience. and sometimes breaks his skull or