The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-10-22
Bruin Makes His Last Stand in the
Heart of the Swamp.
MANUErS BIG BEAR STEW
Dog for an Expedition After Bear
Into the Big Caney-1he BLACK
~, Bears Tactics Against Dngs'
Revelations Of Canine Nature

on wide and deep and for five miles on
either side of it stretches an almost i'm
renetrable swamp Of expresses, water
oaks and canes, which reach sometimes
TO height of forty feet. Many pools are
I'm the swamp. round and dark, stagnant
ard foul smelling. Green scum floats
along their edges and their surfaces are
dotted with lily pads large enough TO
be.tr the weight of a man. On these pdds
t., buufros sguats while prOfundo notes
saw their way out Of him. the deadly
water moccasin lies curled In sunny SUM
Der. and on decaying logs the hardsheu
turtles doze I'm hundreds. Strange windy
colored birds nit in the meshed branches.
and herons and cranes stalk graNely IN
the slime. This swamp Is Tor the most
part ten feet below the surface OF the
outlying lands but here and there ridges
OF harder higher earth run through IL.
ON these ridges in time OF overflow an
the animal life Of the mOrasses ana the
hammOcks collects, and man, il so
minded. could Kill deer rabbits and foxes
until weary He would get bears also and
a panther or two The ridges are never
visited when the water is high, however,
for the reason that I'm overflow time every
one i'm that part of Louisiana has enough
10 do 10 attend 10 his own business with
out the wild things. Although the coun-
try about II has been settled for more
than two hundred years. there are parts
of the Big Caney that white man has
never seen. Negroes have explored lis
most Interior desOlauons, because IN the
old days it was the haunt OF runaways,
fugitive slaves who, once us dark wall
had closed behind them. felt themselves
Sol
came back 10 their owners, took their
whippings sulleny and went TO work.
driven TO toll and blows by the very Lone
Illness OF the vast tangled labyrinthine
Mace Others were never again heard OF
and Il is supposed that after leading
lives Of utter savagery, sleeping In the
mOss-swathed trees. and eating berries,
nuts and such little animals as they could
trap and STAY they perished. For TINS
reason the blacks. since the war have
stunned the Big Caney, and VIII not ven
ture into IL unless accompanied by while
men.
GAME N THE SWAMP.
The game in this swamp is about what
it was i'm Louisiana three centuries ago.
though. as the territory is restricted,
there Is not so much Of II. It IS certainly
as wild now as then and the predatory
fauna are as savage. The fighters among
the wild beasts. outside Of the wild boar.
are not many. 4 panther was killed WITH
buckshot near the Northern edge Of the
Big Caney last spring, the first one seen
IN three years IL was not large meas
uring only four feet from nose TO tan
root. The black bear is plentiful. but the
black bear gill not fight anything except
other bears and dogs. He Will eat young
nlgs II he can get them. which is not
f..rsa f.lf4
above all. honey. Bee trees are many,
and the heavy saccharine comb and
iuices which be devours give a sweet taste
fo his flesh There Is no authenticated
instance I'm Louisiana of black bear at
lacking d human being, young or old
BLACK hears have been beaten 70 dedth
with clubs in the hands Of negroes. maxi
ing no resistance at all, anxious only 10
Get away. The black bear When causul
in a trap will whine ard plead IN an AZ
most human way, but he never tnllhS oI
using mis- enormous strength IN offensive
effort al release, and submits ;ame.y TO
the slaughter
he is am exceedingly cunning animal
wise would be a better wOrd-sO much
so i'm fact. that he is rarely captured eN-
cent with dogs that strike his tran ana
run him 20 "A standstiii 10 Is then thdt
he shows himself I'm his best light, be-
cause as dog fighter pound Tor pound
he has no superior IN the animal KING
dom. In his wild state the very sight
or scent of a hound appears to infuriate
him and he loses instantly all Oh ms dread
of humanity. He will battle 70 his last
easp though twenty men be standing
about yelling announcement 10 their al
lies. and when ne goes down his last
thought is for the dog which has him by
the nose and not for the man who stole
the dog. 4 black bear seven years OLD
and sound will weigh ordinarily from so
TO 400 hounds. Much Of this Is fat when
lies I'm d three-inch layer under the hairy
hide but a good deal Of II is bone anu
muscle. especially muscle. His WIND Is
good 90 good. IN fact, that he VIII OFTEN
travel ten miles straight on end. come TO
bay long enough 10 draw deep breath
or two and then burst through his foes
and dash the canes right and left leaving
"a three-foot path behind him. The noise
made bv q bear when going hard through
canobrake seems out of proportion 10
his size IL sounds. indeed, as If drove
OF horses were being rushed through the
rafting stems.
4 CLEVER FIGHTER.
The bear will stand an immense amount
Of rouehing. He is exceedingly fast and
clever with his paws. He fights away I'm
am uDricht positi0n with his back against
a tree. so that II is difficult for a dog -
get AZ him from behind. His blow IS
talf-arm swipc. delivered from left 10
rignt or from right 10 left with equal
force. for he Is ambidextrous. This blow
although the semi circle described is very
short and the paw has no space in which
TO Gather momentum, IS Of giant power
and ii IS amazingly swift. The pusilist
does not live who could guard il. II would
floor the heaviest and steadiest man If II
landed anywhere above the waistline, and
Il is sufficient 10 send a large dog flying
through the air ike a shuttlecock The
canine rib was never built that would
Withstand its impact. Wien this blow
gets home fairly the dog bones crack az
If they were pipe stems. There Is always
A short semi-surprised yelp. a brief con-
vulsion. a long SILVER and then no more
dog Meantime the bear is too busy 20
feel any sort Of satisfaction. Reared upon
his launches. he Is more than five feet
tail. and his foes In order 10 reach his
throat. must leap high. As his terrible
arms protect this part Of him as eiilcient-
Is as the quarter-inch blade Of the tencer
shields his body. the throat leap Is most
often a death leap. Louisiana hunters who
20 after him know their business, and
prove it when they gather a large pack
Ten DAVIS i'm the Big Caney, with an aver
age of one bear a day brought 10 bay,
will use up a great many dogs. II is sell
dom that the pack which left the pen re-
turns with more than tenth OF its num-
er. Three cane wagons may have been
needed 10 transport the dogs TO the place
L. .