Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1896-01-16
eEARs THAI cArcn SALMON.
Easy Fishing and Good Fish In the Teem-
ing Waters of Alaska

BEARS THAT CATCH SALMON.
Easy Fishing and Good Fish In the Teem-
ing Waters of Alaska
Most bears catch fish if they have a
chance" said DIR. Tarloton e. Bean,
formerly icthyologist OF the United
States fish commission and now super
intendent of the New York aquarium,
''but they don't all have as easy fish
ing or as good fish TO eat at the bears
in Alaska There the bears catch sal
mon. In the spawning season the
fish are so thick in the streams that
the bear has simply to stand on the
bank and pick out the fish he wants.
The salmon run up the rivers from the
ocean Some great streams they fol-
low for hundreds of miles, seeking the
head waters. 1t is the common belief
that from these long journeys the sal
mon never returns alive. Worn and
emaciated, often wounded by contact
with stones and roots in its long and
toilsome journey, it deposits its spawn
and dies in its effort to regain the sea-
"The salmon seek smaller streams
as we'll On the island of Kadiak, for
instance, in the gulf Of Alaska, they
run in great numbers up the Karluk
river. about twenty miles, to its source
in Karluk lake, which is eight miles
long, three or four miles wide, and so
deep that no line yet dropped in it has
reached the bottom. The salmon
spawn in the lake. in the shallow
places along the shore, and in the
little streams tributary to it. These
little streams may be in some places so
shallow as to contain scarcely enough
water to float the fish; its back fin and
the top of its back may be out of wa
ter. The salmon of the Karluk river
is the red salmon, the great salmon of
commerce 1t attains a length Of
nearly three feet, and weight of ten
to twelve pounds.
Various birds eat many of the
smaller salmon, and small fishes of
other kinds eat many of the salmon
eggs The bears eat the grown fish as
they pass up or down the stream on
the way to or from their spawning
places The bear of Kadiak is the griz-
zly; it may grow to weigh thousand
pounds or more, though that would be
one of unusual size; four hundred
pounds would be much nearer the aver
age weight 1t is the common habit
mon Every year when the season be-
gins, which is in the summer, the
bears 60 to the streams to fish, and
they fish all through the season as
long as the fish continue to run.
"The country around the Karluk
lake is wooded, the timber being
chiefly cottonwood. There are places
perhaps six feet in height 1t may be
that grizzly will be seen coming
down cut of the woods on all fours, or
you may see one, alarmed at some
thing while on its way to the river.
standing up in the grass, its head ap-
pearing above the top of it
THE bear is good swimmer, but
he doesn't need to do any swimming
here. He stands with his hind feet on
tie bank and his fore feet in shoal
water and looks straight ahead. The
fish swim past in endless procession
and close into the banks, looking for
springs and little streams, cool places,
where they like to deposit their eggs
The bear looks ahead intently. have
never stood near enough to a bear that
was fishing to see that he did so, but 1
have no doubt that he selects out of
the many constantly passing partic-
Il. E-l -. IL
He slaps the salmon out of the water
and up on the bank. and turns and
eats it while it is still alive. She
bears take their cubs to the river and
feed them there on salmon, and incl
dentally teach them TO fish.
There is a species of elderberry
that grows luxuriantly near these sal
mon grounds, a snowy berry, that
looks like the elderberry of this part
of the country. except that instead of
being black it is red The bear is
fond of these berries, apd often after
eating salmon he eats a quantity of
them by way of dessert before he goes
back to the woods.
Frequently near the bear, as he
feeds, is seen fox, the common gray
fox of Alaska, standing perhaps fifteen
inches high. measuring to the tip of its
extended tail three and half feet, and
weighing twenty-five or thirty pounds
The fox is not afraid of the bear, but
still he takes care not to get too near
him The fox can catch birds, but not
fish; he likes fish, however, and he
knows the habits of the bear, and he
comes before the bear gets through
his meal and waits; and after the bear
has gone away the fox cleans up what
the bear has left-"-N Y Sun