St. Paul daily globe., 1894-05-06
NEW JERSEY BEARS.
Where You Can Find Them If You Like
That Kind of Sport.


This species of old settler is not yet out of
date in the woods on and around the Blue
Ridge. Only the other week big black.
specimen has worried the farmers around the
village of Marksboro, in this county. .Excur-
sions, well armed and alert, have gone in
search of him, but so far without success.
The bear is credited with the slaughter of
three full-grown sheep and two lambs right
within stones throw of the village Returns
have not arrived from interior points.
Nothing proves that bears are still in exist
ence in this region better than the fact that
bear meat is occasionally served in some of
the little taverns along the widest mountain
roads in the upper parts of Sussex and War
rem counties. On going over the Blue Ridge
at the uppermost end of the State some weeks
ago, your correspondent stopped for dinner
at one of these wayside inns. The host
served a plate of meat, savory in odor and
tender in looks. AS he put it in front of his
guest, he said:
t'See how you like this meat. I doubt
whether you ever tasted anything of the
kind, but it is favorite dish with US noun
tain people"
Whether the guests appetite had been
whetted by the tramp up the mountain, or
whether the dish itself was really all it was
cracked up to be, it certainly satisfied a rather
fastidious palate. It had flavor somewhat
stronger than beef, yet it bore quite SINH
larity to it. After fully testing its quality, the
query as to what it was started the landlord
of at once.
''That is bear steak, sir. It was cut from
bear caught right down the road piece.
You passed the spot on the way up and you
must have walked over the animals foot.
prints. That was four days ago. My boy
shot him. If you had time could show you
den or two of bears within a mile of
this house, and could spin you bear yarns
by the hour. Of course, bears are on the de-
crease, and in the past few years they have
dropped of greatly. Yet there are few old
sportsmen from the centre of the State who
come up here every fall on bear hunt. They
always get at least a little game.''
Among the characters of upper New Jersey
is an old hunter who goes by the name of
"Rattlesnake Pete,'' because for years he
made living by killing the deadliest of
snakes and selling their skins, and also sell
ing berries. He lives over in Sussex county,
and is getting we'll along in years. He has
killed great many bears in his time and
had numerous adventures with the tough
quadruped, more or less thrilling in char
acter. Some of his stories We're published in
the New York and Philadelphia papers about
ten Or twelve years ago. Possibly some of
his unpublished tales may be worth narrating
later On. "Pete" says there are mighty few
bears left in Jersey, but those that are, he
considers very sly and very ferocious. The
old man prefers talking about snakes. His
face ightened up perceptiby the other day
when he was asked about the present condi-
tion-ef the rattlesnake market.
"Why, bless your soul, SIR" he replied,
'sthere's heaps of reptiles left yet It's true
they don't go after you so much as they used
to, but if you track 'em down you can find
'em, and if you stir 'em up, you will discover
they are as lively and bitey as ever. My
daughter. sixteen years old, killed fellow
with thirteen rattles just before Thanks
giving. She heard the varmint call. They
call three times, you know, mister, before
they spring on you and bite. You always
want to look out for the third call. It means
death purity quick, if you don't hustle on
right away. Well, my girl, she waited till the
second call. Then she snatched up the big
stick we alters carry when we are in the thick
woods, and running behind the snake, hit
him whack. The old sarpint turned on her
qulcker'n blazes, but she was there, too and
fetched him another. That settled the busi-
ness. He wrggled, as they alters do, till sun
down, and then he died stone dead. I've got
the critter hung up in my house 1ongside the
hide of a big bear that killed some years
ago the other side of the Ridge, almost oppo-
site the Delaware Water Gap. The rattle
was one of the biggest and finest ever
saw