The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-06-28
FOLLYOFA WISEBEAR
THE CRAVINGS OF HIS SWEET TOOTH
LED TO HIS DOWNFALL.
lie Got Drunk on 81 Thompson's Rum and
Molasses. and 81 Killed Hinton Me-
serve Gives New York Sportsman q
Dissertation on Bears.

Molasses. and 81 Killed Hinton Me-
serve Gives n New York Sportsman q
Dissertation on Bears.
To the ears OF the New York sports
man and Tom Meserve, his guide, lying
on the bed of evergreen boughs in camp
on the shore of Moosehead lake, came
the scream of bear somewhere off in
the dark forest. 1t was queer sound
that was much like the shrill call of
dinner, with rising infection at
the end, with which New England farm
wives summon the men from the fields
to the monday meal 1t was repeated
several times at intervals and came each
time from nearer the camp. The guide
got up and went out to the maple grove
few rods away, took down from a
| limb the buck that was hanging there,
| dragged il nearer the camp and hung it
up to a tree within plain sight of the
doorway.
"When we know that bear is prowl-
| ing round, it is we'll TO have our venison
| where we can see il, he said. HE
| left the meat ont among the naples he'd
be apt to spoil some of it before morn
ing. A bear is hungry creature and
will eat about everything, from honey
| to carrion-a stale salt mackerel will
draw one farther than anything else
| but he is shy about coming around
camps where people are. You'll see that
| this one will come near enough to find
out that there are people here, and then
will go away.
The New Yorker was for going out
to try a shot at the bear, but the guide
told him that it was of no use
"He won't come into view anyway"
he said, land if you show yourself at
| the door he'll not come within rife
shot. Remember that he can see in the
| dark, but unless you should get a
| glimpse of his eyes you couldn't distin-
guish him among the shadows five steps
away. Just listen, and we may hear
him.
The New York man lay down again
| upon the boughs The scream came once
again close at hand and after that was
| heard NO more. Presentlys>le guide lift
| ed his head and signaled the New York
| err that he should listen. There was a
| sound of cracking twigs and rustling
| bushes somewhere outside the open
| space in front Of the camp, but 10 noise
| of footballs Then came little sharp
sound of shutting and after that the
noise of something moving through the
| bushes again The snufliugs and then
the moving on again kept up until the
bear had completely circled round the
camp, and then the SQUADS from him
| died away Bruin had found cut all lie
| wanted TO know about the camp, decid-
| ed that veuisnn there was likely 90 come
too high in the way of risk in getting it,
and gone away without showing him
self or exposing his skin TO any greater
| risk than that Of random shot
| That's the way with bears" OBJ
served Meserve as the two men lighted
their pipes "Yoa almost never get a
shot at one unless you catch him SWIM
ming pond-and in that case you
want to make sure of your shooting or
he'll come aboard your boat, which
makes things bad-or run him down
with dogs, which is expensive, for the
more valuable the dog the more certain
| he is to get killed It's only the chrs
that will zap at the bears heels and run
away when be turns on them that es-
cape damage in bear chase, and, once
in sight of the bear, they're the most
| useful too. The bear is like what have
read of elephants. He can't bear the
sound CT ,i..lo ccy swapping Lc':!al
him and keeps turning round to drive
him off and so gives the hunters a
chance to come up.
| "There was one bear that stayed
round this shore for years, and he gave
| fishermen no end of trouble by robbing
their camps when they were out on the
lake fishing. He bothered them worst in
the early spring. when they came up to
the lakes to fish through the ice. II was
about that time that the bear would
come out from his winters sleep lean
and hungry, and it took heap to fill
him up. He was great traveller, and
before the fishing season ended he would
be heard of from one end Of the lake to
the other. They could tell that it was
| one bear that did the business, for this
one had foot with some of the toes
gone, and the tracks about the camp al.
ways showed this mark.
"This bear run his rig up and down
the lake for three years without get.
ting into trouble. He came to grief at
last in very queer way A man NAM
ed Silas Thompson, camping alone on
the east shore of the lake, was out on
| the ice minding his lines one March
day and thinking how he would have