The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1894-09-28
GREAT GRIZZLIES.
The Immense Bears That Roam
tho Woods of Manitoba.
Larger Than Any Others of the Same
Fs mily In the United States-Though
stilI to Be Found They Are Not So


Numerous "a Formerly.
Fifteen years ago, says a 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 trappcrs that had its
range in that wild region. But to-day
this fierce and pOndcrous beast-no-
where 50 fierce or of such enormous
proportions as among the Manitoba
fastnesses-is quite rarity in its old
haunts. and doubt if one can now bc
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 a fate a. the buffa-
10. although. from the nature and isola-
tion 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 a
long and varied experience i'm hunting
these animals in their respective To-
calitieS has proved To me that such is
the fact. No grizzly bear that | ever
captured, OF that | ever knew To be
captured south of Manitoba measured
more than seven feet and Il half from
muZZle To tail or weighed more than
twelve hundreds pounds But it was
no uncommon thing in the palmv DAYS
of grizzly bears in Manitoba for the
hunter or trapper To- be confronted 10y
one of these monsters nine feet in
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 want to tell Won
that it takes a man with large guam
tity and the best quality of nerve 10
stand in that tremendous presence and
prepare to do battle cooIIy 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 "a far a. they can with
their forepaws. making marks in the
bark 10y digging in with their claws. 1
have more than once come across these
measuring marks of grizzly. a. the
marks ON the bark are called. twelve
feet above the ground Imagine com
inT suddenly upon a beast like that in
some deep ravine or isolated spot al
most impLsSable owing to the down
timber hcapci and tangled on the
ground and surrounded 10y rocks and
thick underbruSh. The sight of hi
great jaws open and rel. and his eye
flashing in fury at You from tha enor-
nous head that towers 80 far above
you. is something only To be aPpre-
cilted when once seen
When there were buffaloes on the
plains Manitoba grizzly bears wer,.
keen and persistent hunters of them
When Il grizzly and a buffalo met there
WAS sure to Ice 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 ferociouslE
upon its big and ugly foe. This WAS
Just what the bear desired and H.
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 II one
sid, and with "A blow "a quick a. light
ming with one of his great forcpaTs
seldom failed To break his antagonists
y
known to engage in rapid succession.
four and even five infuriatcd buffalo
bulls. and kill every one of them 1t
sometimes happened though that bull
Younger and more agile than his com
pauion succeeded ia evadiug the fatal
blow of the grizzlys terrible paw long
enough To give in turn a deadly thrust
of his horn into the bears side. pune
turing thc vitlls. and making the con-
test a mutual slaughter
In general characteristics. of course,
the Manitoba grizzly IL not in any way
different from others of the family
While | believe that a grizzly bear Will
sometimes wait and precipitate q fight
with man. and take pains t. put him
self in the way of one. in the great ma
ioritv of eases he Will take 4 second
thought about the matter and back
out \ queer instance of this disp Isl
tinn came To my knowledge once where
a famous Manitoba guide courageouSly
advanced upon three grizzlies. an old
she one and two half-grown cubs. and.
by a series of ridiculous monkey shines
and acrobatic mancuvers within rod
or two of the threatening bears. filled
them with such aStonishmcnt and ap-
parent fear that they rctreated To the
woods As fast As they could GO
The hunters gun had snapped in
both barrels. lac having drawn on the
old bear before the young ones came
upon the scene. 1t was In lit of
dcsperation that he tried the turning
of a handspring and jumping up and
down. cIapping his hands and resorting
To- other unhuntcrlilie measures He
had been told once that hunter had
frightened mountain lion away 10y
similar absurd movements and he
found that it worked To perfection in
the ease of the three grizzly bears. but
| he never. even III the face of that fact,
advised or encouraged anyone to 20
hunting Manitoba or any other kind of
grizzlies armed with nothing more
than a capacity to turn grotesque
somersa ults.
|