The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-09-05

ers and woodsmen in the mountains con-
Germs the character the black bear ex
hibits In the home circle or within the
cavernous confines of the bear house
mold. Some authorities say that the bear
is a mean, selfish fellow, and has no care
for its mate or thought for its offspring,
and that the moment It becomes father
that moment 1t quits the family domicile,
leaving all there TO shift for themselves.
A larger number, and it seems more ac-
curate authorities, contend that the bear
is lioeled by these detractors, and that
Bruin is very helpful to Mrs. Bruin in
the first week of her motherhood. Hunt
ers who have watched from concealed
spots and through field glasses the do
lngs of den of bears say they have OBJ
served many acts of consideration and
Kindness in the home circle rendered by
rather Bruin. The male is not only good
pfoVlder IN time of need, but also a
jolly companionable fellow with the cubs.
II wlll play for hours with the cubs, roll
ing about on the mountain side or among
the chaparraL II seems 70 invite liber-
ties from the little fellows. for they
romp over their fathers body climb on
the animals broad back scramble be-
tween its legs, and often scratch and bite
their daddy, so that it must take about
an the old mans good nature to endure
their FRANKS
The funniest thing ] ever saw in a
black bear family" said Bob Ellison. an
old-ume trapper in the Rocky mountains
was one day last summer. Parker and
had trailed a she bear to heavy growth
of timber down In a baby canyon. When
we came in sight of the bear home we
were not seen, 50 we sat down with our
rifles across our laps and watched the
family The mother bear had three cubs,
IL seemed that she had left them home
While she went diminishing for forage.
not
IKE the carcass of coyote when we came
along. Well, the way those old bears
pulled that carcass to pieces and divided
II among the cubs was nightly interest
Ing, We could see that the parents were
ALFRED hungry themselves, and that they
looked with longing eyes as the boys and
girls chewed the meat and bones down,
but they never seemed to want a bit
while the children We're hungry If you
could have seen how the old he bear sat
on his hind legs and watched the meat
disappear while ne could only get a sniff
OF the feast IL would have taught you the
greatest lesson of your life in unselhsh-
ness. When the cubs We're through eat
ing the father and mother bear chewed
a little about the bare bones and Tapped
up some blood, but that was all they got
Then the fun began, and you never saw
better show in your life In any theater.
The cubs and their dad rolled and tumbled
ieaDIfOR
over one another they pulled one another
about by the tail, and the cubs would all
together jump on their father and pull
and haul him until he must have been
sore. Once in a while they would vex
him, and partner and l nearly holered
out loud to see how he would haste them
with fore paw. Then the she bear ioin-
ed in the fun and the whole family Pitch
ed on the Old man, just as you see boys
fool with thekr dad. The parent bears
chased each other about the manzanita
brush and over the powders, while the
cubs would follow as best they could.
III swear these bears had such a good
time that l know | heard them laugh
themselves. Well, this kept up for two
! hours. Then the old man Bruin went off
TO hunt for his food, and you may believe
1t or not, partner and / had several
chances to shoot that whole family, but
I'll be darned II there's money enough in
bear pelts to get US to fire into such
fine lot of folks as them Why, It would
be just like murder"
The acuteness (sagacity some observers
/ cali ~ of a black bear Is shown in hun
/ dreds of different ways. All hunters have
had experiences in which they have been
\ led many miles from camp across noun
/ tains, over wide areas Of powders, and
/ through rocky canyons, by some smart
old bear, that seemed to have a human
mind in teasing the hunter along, and at
range of the rifle. The bear that knows it
! Is hunted and sees a chance to escape will
| do this every time. 1t viii climb hastily
! into the most inaccessible spots, and when
| it has surveyed the field from behind a
| titanic bowder or in a dense chaparral,
where the hunter cannot shoot, Il will de-
eide upon q course of escape II it Is a
she bear and her cubs are along she will
drive the littse fellows on ahead a few feet
and defend them in the rear. Many she
bears, in their anxiety to save their cubs,
! have been seen 10 pick them up In their
forepaws and trudge clumsliy along.
The sagacity of black bears is very often
| shown in their manner of seeking food. A
ranchman in the foo hills of the San Ber-
nardino mountains a few years ago found
that a little pig disappeared about every
week from his pig pens. The print Of bears
paws told what was carrying away the
little porkers, but the pen was surrounded
by a pa.ing so strong and high that the
ranchman could not imagine how any
beast ever got in there. An all-night watch
showed him that a black bear climbed a
live oak tree that grew near, and, walk
ing out on a branch that grew over the
pig pen, dropped TO the ground snatched
terrified pig and, making for The gale
that could be opened from the inside only,
made off 10 the family den, miles away up
in the canyon.