The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-02-13

obstruction. and frequently Will pick the
clog ub and carry il in his arms. as you
might say, II the trap happens TO be on
a hind foot But the grizzly has not the
sense nor the patience 10 ease himself in
thai way, and tugs and tears until ne
eitl@r starts the clog from its fastening
or tears his foot of and leaves 1t IN the
trap. I have many times come up 70 my
trap to find nothing in it but half the
foot OF some monster grizzly, and such
has been the experience of all trappers OF
that savage beast.
1.-THE further a grizzly bear goes on his
furious march without Kidding himself OF
the trap the greater his rage becomes. He
will rush against obstructing trees and
tear them with his teeth. l have follow
ed the trails of grizzlies through thick
timber while the bears were endeavorlnS
TO free themselves from their traps and
have counted saping after sapling, and
good-sized ones at that, chewed to the
ground by the Infatuated animals. To
come up with a half-ton grizzly bear
while he is in such temper would be ike
standing in the path of a cyclone.
'arhe trail of a trapped grizzly generally
leads the trapper a long way through the
forest, and more than likely a mile OF SO
into a swamp where he can see but lew
feet In any direction, the growth is so
bear to rise somewhere about him and
charge upon him like an avalanche. There
have been times when trappers have come
up with the bear at the very moment When
he has succeeded IN tearing loose from the
trap. At least that is the supposition OF
those who have found the bodies OF such
trappers in the swamps.
"A grizzly bear won't eat anything IN
the vegetable line unless he can't get
a m
as long a she can get something in the
vegetable line. But as much as the griz-
civ dotes on things in the way of meat,
he will starVe to death before he viii eat
human flesh. This isn't in keeping with
what bear story writers love to tell aDout
the grizzly but 1t is true. My old friend,
George Ray of Idaho, has theory TO ex-
plain this adherence by the grizzly bear
of mans flesh. He believes that one day
the father or the mother of the grizzly
family killed an Indian and ate some OF
him. That, friend Ray declares, could
have but one result II set the bear for
ever against man meat. The family fell
heir to the repuguance, and, not being
able to distinguish between Indians and
human beings, none of its members mas
ever tasted one or the other since But
George Ray holds a big grudge against
Indians, and his theory may be wrong.
grizzly bears were keen and persistent
hunters of them. When a grizzly and
buffalo met there was sure to be night,
although ID seldom lasted long, and the
buffalo was usually the victim. In seeking
a victim from a herd the bear would in
variably have to fight for il with one or
more bulls. A grizzly has been known
to engage, in rapid succession, several
bulls and kill every one of them, his tao
tics being to avoid the fierce charge or
a bull and with blow from one OF his
great forepaws break the bulls neck as
he Iunged past him. 1t often happened,
though, that some young and agile bull
would succeed in eTading the fatal blow
of the grizzly's terrible paw long enough
to give a deadly thrust of his horn into
the bears side, puncturing the vitals and
making of the contest a mutual slaugh-
ter George Ray told me that he once
came upon four bull buffaloes lying dead
on the plain, the carcasses being near
one another. Every bulls neck was
broken. Close by lay a dead grizzly. the
biggest one he had ever seen. He was rip
ped open from his flank to his shoulder
literally disemboweled. The story the
dead bodies told was plain enough. The
bear had killed the bulls one after another
and met his own fate in the contest with
the fourth. An animal that didn't hesitate
to go into herd of buffaloes and brave
the fierce bulls when he wanted his din>
ner, It may well be believed, doesn't think
anything at all of coming down out of the
mountains, walking boldly to the nearest
ranch, breaking the neck of a steer and
Juggling it away with him. He doesn't
mind that a little bit, as any ranchman
in that region knows to his sorrow