The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1896-06-10


the Missouri river and is stlll found
east Of the Rockies, on the border lands
OF the great plains, in the Dallotas and
Montana. 1t is smaller animal in the
Rockies than in the Sierra Nevada, Its
weight in the former region seldom eX-
ceeding' one thousand pounds, The
further south it is found the less its size
and ferocity.
The grizzly prefers a brushy coun-
try, such as affords a good cover and
an abundance of berries, edible roots,
honey and insect food, 1t is Il greedy
feeder and not at all particular, 1t
will feast upon carrlon, relishes ants
and beetles, mice, gophcrs and other
small creatures; will capture deer
hogs, sheep, cattle, horses and other
domestic animals, when impelled by
hunger, but is by preference veSeta-
rian. Berries are its faVOrite food, but
on the confines of civilization it mani
tests a most decided fondness for hon
ely, as many a bee-keeper in Southern
California has learned to his cost. In
carrying off a calf or young steer the
bear will sometimes walk upon it's hind
feet, clasping the prey in it's forearms,
and in this way lift it over rocks and
other distractions. 1t has been known
successfully to attack moose and elk,
springing upon them from ambush and
biting the spinal column through the
neck In California and Oregon it has
displayed much fondness for fish, gorg-
ing itself upon salmon at the headwa-
ters of the streams in which the spawn
ing beds are situated. The bear wades
upon the rifles or lies upon projecting
rocks, where it can easily claw out theI
fish from the water in which they
abound. In its search for insects it will
often turn over large stones or fallen
trunks of trees. Acorns and nuts of all
sorts are among its food, and wild
| plums do not come amiss to it's OmniY-
orous appetite.
The habits of the grizzly have been
modified by its contact with ciViliza-
| ton. Before its acquaintance with the
white man and his rifle the bear was
accustomed to do most of its foraging
| by daylight sleeping during the greater
| part of the night and enjoying siesta
at noon; but now it prOwls at night If
near the traces of man and during the
| day lies hidden in some impenetrable
thicket. 1t has lairs, or customary
| sleeping places, to which it resorts, but
often lies in any convenient cover # on
a berrying or other expedition far from
it's accustomed tramping ground.
In cold regions the grizzly hibernates,
like other bears, but to less extent.
The male, especially, is sometimes
| found roaming when snow is on the
ground. When winter approaches the
female either makes a den or selects for
a lying-in chamber some cave.
In the mountains of California, where
| caves are seldom found, the den is usu-
ally excavated in the side of a steep
slope forming one of the walls of a cam
on. The claws are efficient disgers
and tons of earth are usually removed
before the work is completed. A tunnel
three or four feet in diameter is run a
distance of six feet or more, and then
chamber is followed out with much la
Dor whose dimensions will be fully six
feet in diameter and five feet in height
If the nature of the ground will permit
of these proportions. The inner cham
Der is thickly carpeted with leaves.
In this snug retreat the cubs are
born. The litter usually consists of
| two, but sometimes there are three and
occasionally only one The cubs are
blind at birth, much resembling pup
pies They begin to see when nine or
ten days old. If captured at an early
age they may be readily domesticated.
The hunter Adams trained two of these
animals. which he had obtained as
cubs. and made them his constant COM
panions He declared that they showed
| af1I1~
toward their master, though inclined to
be surly with strangers. One OF them
set upon a large grizzly which had sud
denly attacked Adams, and but for Its
interference he would have lost his life.
The grizzly is solitary. The males do
not ordinarily associate with the fe-
males But the cubs are apt to remain
with the dam until nearly year old, or
even longer Sometimes the bears are
seen in considerable numbers in one
spot, but this is due to the abundance
Of food in the locality, or some such
reason, and not to gregariOus dispo-
| sition.
The cubs of the grizzly species some
times climb tree though clumsily
but the adult bear rarely or never
|
to be a good climber and the length
and form of its claws are unfavOrabla
for the effort. The grizzly, however
has been known to ascend tree in
pursuit of a hunter who had wounded
1t.
The male grizzly is far from fatherly
He has been known to kin and eat
young cubs Even the mother bear
whose devotion to her offspring is usu-
ally unquestionable, is said to devom
deformed or dead cub.
One of the habits of the grizzly is
that of burying animals which it has
slain, after it's hungcr>has been salts
fed, or for which it has no immediate
need. 1t has been known to serve mar
in the same way. Early in the fifties q
man named Drury, who had wounded
a bear, took refuge on a sapling, which
the grizzly proceeded to gnaw in two
The man was then savagely bitten
covered over with leaves and grass anc
left for dead He recovered, but was g
cripple ever afterward
The fur of the grizzly bear is mucf
coarser than that of the brown or black
bear Ursus Americanus). Its only use
in the trade is in the form of ornameu.
tai rugs. AS there is little demand fol
the skin, the animal is not much sOugh
by trappers. But the cubs, if secured
| alive are marketable at good DriceS fOl