St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1892-02-27
IN MORTAL COMBAT.
A Hunter Witnesses a Battle Be-
tween Two Biz GriZzlicS,

| y
tween 1--WE Big Grizzlics.
Professor Dyche of the Kansas State
| | nlyerslty, is Il great hunter and spends
his Summers among the wiItIs Of the
Northwest getting Specimens for the
museum OF the institution During these
| trips he gets acquainted with all the
guI'its and hunters ct the r,rion in
! which he is hunting, and the result is
that when any of these men get 10 civil
lsaton they crlrayor 10 ca'l ut the un.-
! yrrslty To 81" Dyrhr auI hi, uu~rau.
One OF thrs" mon is NOW in Lawrence
on such Il visit and tells story OF an ad-
venture which he had in the mouutuins
OF Washington which borders ON the
marvellous, but which he is willing to
| vouch for, and in addition he has SUCH
evidence that his story is ncpntroyerti-
| Bile. The gentleman is George Avres
| ami his occupation is hunter and guide
| IL" lives III country where the grizzly
| bear grows to an enormous size, and
while he has never been successful as It
hunter of the animals he has, killed two
or three.
The story he tells is Of combat between
two enormous grizzlies. which lie wit
messed from the safe retreat of II tall
tree, where he had fled from the approach
Of one of the brutes Ayers tells tile
story most era phicatIy ami says it lasted
long enough for him To- get over his scare
and pay close attention to what was go
ing on. He had been out hunting, hay
ing started at day Wight and ut about two
O'Clock in the afternoon he was surprised
by meeting large grizzly right in his
path.
He did not have time to d. anything
but climb II tree, and the old brute lmlne-
diatelv laid Siege to him and attempted
to reach up at him While this was GO
ing on Ayers heard Noise up the trail
and there saw another bear coming down
toward his tree. lie thought he was in
for q night Of it, rs the twoo would keep
him there until he was starved or some
| one came to his assistance. lie was
mistaken, however, for thc two bears
were evidently not friendly, and one of
them undoubtedly thought ihat the other
was poachin9 on his preserves, for the
animals no sooner saw each Other than
they roared and rushed at each other,
bent on fight O
Then cnsucd one Of the widest scenes
witnessed in the mountains It battle be-
tween the kings of the forest. The all
imaIs fought with Il skill that showed
them both to be the victor Of many u
previous conflict They s>irmishcd for
position and boxed with the dcAtrrity of
trained pugilists.
~u1Innlv ana ,nnIa "a Sn,-,,rh ilSb NJ
the other and they were locked in an en-
brace that was terrific. They roarcd and
howled and bit and cawol each other in
u most horrible manner. The whole place
was torn up, small trees being uprooted
in the struggles of the enraged brUtcs.
By an awful effort one tore away from
the other, and then they began their
sparrng tactics again, but il WIS evident
that the first bear had got much the worst
of the tackle. Round and round they
went again until u second rush was made,
and then there came the most fearful
death struggle. 1t was evident that one
Or the other would be left on the field
dead before either would give up the
fight
They fought savagely, biting and
gouging until one OF the hrnt"s tell and
the other got a grip on his throat, which
soon ended the fight and the fallen bears
life. After biting and cIHwing the fallen
enemy until there was no possibility OF
there being any life left, the victor set to
work to eat his fallen foe and tore Il great
hole in his ham and ate away a great por.
ton of the flesh. He then retired up the
mountain, leaving Ayers alone.
Ayers got down and skinned the dead
grizzly, and now has The hide with the
great hole in the hip to show that his
story was true, The skin measures
eight and half feet in length and is
seven feet across its broadcast place.
Ayers says it weighed not less than
1000 pounds and was as large as the
largest bull he ever saw. He has had
the skin prepared for rug with holo
in it, and this hole gives him the
opportunity Of telling his story New
York World.