The St. Johns herald., 1894-11-22


 Fifteen years ago. says Manitoba pioneer in the Chicago Times, the grizzly bear was so plentiful among the Manitoba Rockies that the Hudson Bay company annually secured many hundreds of their skins from the army of hunters and trappers that had it's range in that wild region But to-day this fierce and ponderous beast-no- where so fierce or of such enormous prouortions as among the Manitoba fastnesses-is quite a rarity in its old haunts, and doubt if one can now be come upon without a difficult and tedious journey of at least three hun dred miles into the interior wilderness of the province. The grizzly has met with almost as hard fate as the bu1fa- To, although, from the nature and isola- ton of its present retreats and the difficulties attendant on hunting and trapping for it. the grizzly bear. like the Manitoba moose, will never be- come extinct in that country.
 know no reason why the grizzly bear of the Manitoba Rockies should grow so much larger than the grizzly of the same mountains in the states, but long and varied experience in hunting these animals in their respective To- calities has proved to me that such is the fact. No grizzly bear that l ever captured, or that I ever knew to be captured south of Manitoba measured more than seven feet and half from muzzle to tail or weighed more than twelve hundreds pounds. But it was no uncommon thing in the palmy days of grizzly bears in Manitoba for the hunter or trapper to be confronted by one of these monsters nine feet ID length and with bulk of fifteen hun- dred pounds or more. have seen Manitoba grizzlies that, when they threw themselves on their launches and rose erect, lowered five and six feet above me, and l want to tell you that it takes man with large quan- tity and the best quality of nerve to stand in that tremendous presence and prepare to do battle coolly and with a level head. Grizzly bears, like all the rest of the bear family, have the curious habit of rising against tree, and, reaching up as far as they can with their forepaws, making marks in the bark by digging in with their claws. l have more than once come across these measuring marks of a grizzly, as the marks on the bark are called, twelve feet above the ground. Imagine com ing suddenly upon beast like that in some deep ravine or isolated spot all most impossible owing to the down timber heaped and tangled on the ground and surrounded by rocks and thick underbrush. The sight of his great jaws, open and red, and his eyes flashing in fury at you from the enor- nous head that towers so far above you, is something only to be appre- ciated when once seen.
 When there were buffaloes on the plains Manitoba grizzly bears were keen and persistent hunters of them. When grizzly and buffalo met there was sure to be fearful contest, al though it seldom lasted long, and the buffalo was usually the victim. The buffalo bull when confronted by bear would invariably charge ferociously upon its big and ugly foe. This was just what the bear desired and he waited erect on his launches the onset of the buffalo. As the latter rushed forward with lowered head and was almost upon the bear, the immense grizzly threw himself quickly to one side and with blow as quick as light ming with one of his great forepGws seldom failed to break his antagonists neck A Manitoba grizzly has been known to engage in rapid succession, four and even five infuriated buffalo bulls, and kill every one of them. It sometimes happened though that bull younger and more agile than his com panion succeeded in evading the fatal blow of the grizzly's terrible paw long enough to give in turn a deadly thrust of his horn into the bears side, pune turing the vitals, and making the con test mutual slaughter.
 In general characteristics, of course, the Manitoba grizzly is not in any way different from others of the family While believe that grizzly bear will sometimes wait and precipitate tight with a man, and take pains to put him self in the way of one, in the great ma jority of cases he will take a second thought about the matter and bacl out A queer instance of this disp oSi tion came to my knowledge once where famous Manitoba guide courageously advanced upon three grizzlies, an ol( she one and two half-grown cubs, and by a series of ridiculous monkey shine and acrobatic maneuvers within roC or two of the threatening bears, filled them with such astonishment and ap parent fear that they retreated to tn woods as fast as they could go.
 The hunters gun had snapped il both barrels, he having drawn on tn, old bear before the young ones cam
 upon the scene. It was in a fit O desperation that he tried the turning of handspring and jumping up anC down, clapping his hands and resortinl to other unhunterlike measures. H. had been told once that a hunter haC frightened a mountain lion away b, similar absurd movements, and h.
 fos,nd that if worked t0 nerfectiOr il