The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-01-14
MANITOBA GRIZZLIES.
INDUSTRIOUS BEARS IN THE FORESTS
BACK IN THE MOUNTAINS.


Tremendous Presonce-A Hunter Saved
His Life by Doing a Circus Act.
Fifteen years ago, said George w.
Rae, a Manitoba pioneer, the grizzly
bear was so plentiful among the Mani
toba Rockies that the Hudson Bay COM
pany annually secured many hundreds
Oh their skins from the army Of hunters
anu trappers that had its range in that
Wud region, but today this fierce and
ponderous beast-nowhere so fierce or
ol sucn enormous proportions as among
!ne manitoba fastnesses-is quite rari-
" IN Its old haunts, and doubt if one
can now be come upon without diff
cult and tedious journey of at least 300
miles into the interior wilderness of the
province.
Tho grizzly has met with almost as
hard fate as the buffalo, although, from
the nature and isolation of it's present
retreats and the difficulties attendant on
hunting and trapping for it, the grizzly
bear, like the Manitoba moose, will new
er become extinct in that country. be
ieve that the moose, although the flesh
Of 1900 of them is required to supply the
military stations in the territory alone
with fresh meat every year, is as plenti-
full today in it's wild retreats as it has
been at any time since the great inroads
OF fur and pelt hunters were begun in
the territory.
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
n1ryrS 1c s,,t l,.s,
proved to me that such is the fact. No
grizzly bear that ever captured or that
ever knew to be captured south of
Manitoba measured more than u feet
from muzzle to tail, or weighed more
than 1900 pounds. But it was no un-
common thing i'll the paliny days of
grizzly bears in Manitoba for the hunter
or trapper to be confronted by one of
these monsters 8 feet in length and with
bulk of 800 pounds or more. have
seen Manitoba grizzlies that when they
threw themselves on their launches and
rose erect lowered five feet and six feet
above ME, and want to tell you that it
takes man with a large quantity and
the best quality of nerve to stand in that
tremendous presence and prepared to
do battle coolly and with level head
Grizzly bears like all the rest of tho
bear family, have the curious habit of
rising against Il tree, and, reaching up
as far rs they can with their fore DAVIS
making marks i'll the bark by digging it
with their claws. have more than
once come across these measuring marks
of Il grizzly, as the marks on the bark
are called, l2 feet above the ground.
Imagine coming suddenly upon beast
like that in some deep ravine or isolated
spot almost impossible owing to the
down timber heaped and tangled on the
ground and surrounded by rocks and
thick underhrush. 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 bcappreciated when
once seen.
When there were buifaloes on the
plains. Manitoba grizzly bears were keen
and persistent hunters of them When
grizzly and Il buffalo met there was
sure to be a fearful contest, although it
seldom lasted long. and the buffalo was
usually the victim The buffalo bull,
when confronted by Il bear, would in
variably charge ferociously upon its big
and ugly foe. This was just what the
bear desired. and he awaited, erect Oh
his launches. the onset Of the buffalo
AS the latter rushed forward with low
cred head and was almost upon the bear
the immense grizzly threw himself
quickly to one side, and with blow us
quick as lightning with one of his great
forepaws seldom failed to break his an
tagonists neck. A Manitoba grizzly has
been known to engage i'll rapid success
sion four and even five Infatuated buffalo
bulls and kin every one of them. 1t
sometimes happened, though, that a 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 deadly thrust of
his horn into the bears side, puncturing
his vitals and making the contest a mu-
tual 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 a fight
with man and take pains to put him
self i'll the way of one, in the great ma
jority of cases he will take second
thought about the matter and back out
A queer instance of this disposition
came to MY knowledge once where
famous Manitoba guide courageously
advanced upon three grizzlies an old she
one and two half grown cubs, and, by a
series of ridiculous monkeyshines and
acrobatic maneuvers within rod or
two of the threatening bears, filled them
with such establishment and apparent