The Indianapolis journal., 1899-08-06
CATTLE-KILLING BEARS,
A Battle I'm n Maine Pasture in Which
the Bear Was WOrsted.
New York Sun.


Compared with fifty years ago the Maine
farmers suffer little loss through the depre-
dations of bears these days The most
sanguinary and exciting combat of this ma
years was reported by Captain Dan Neal
the woods guide, who was within hearing
of the fight and visited the spot the morn
ing after ii took place.
at was in the summer OF 1852, and I
was with gang of thirty men in the hem
lock woods peeling bark on the great west
the Penobscot river" said Captain Neal,
telling of the occurrence the other evening.
The The tSwnship township in WHICH we were working
incorporated town, but there were some
farms in it, and in a large clearing two
pastured. The patriarch of the herd was
large shorthorn bull of disposition which
made us shy of him when crossing. the
killing cattle on the plantation that season,
and one night he attacked this herd. The
fight must have begun about sundown, for
the cattle began to below about then. and
they kept it up until midnight. The sounds
came plainly to us across valley. and
above the others We could distinguish the
OF the rumpus toward midnight and we
wondered what had happened to him; but
the other cattle kept up their believing for
while longer, and they did not quiet
down until we could see in the pasture the
lanterns of the farm hands. who had come
at last to see what the matter was.
I'VE were all too tired after our days
work to go ourselves to find out. but we
got the story next morning from a farmer
who came to the camp. and some of us. my
self among them, went over to the pasture.
The big bull lay dead on the ground with
his neck lacerated and his jugular vein bit
ten clear through. Beyond him lay the
bear. a female. which would weigh 800
pounds. gored in several places and disem-
boweled. The hoof marks in the ground
showed plainly where the cattle had stood
ranged in circle. and the earth was deeply
trodden and blood-stained where the fight
ing had been. The cattle had gone from the
place and were feeding in another part OF
the pasture when we got there. Among
them was a two-year-old steer which had
been In the fracas and now had taken
charge of the herd. His horns were red
dened and he had wound on his neck ex-
tending from the shoulders TO the head
where a three-cornered piece of skin had
been torn nearly on by the bears claws. so
that IL hung In flap. We roped the steer
threw him. and with shoemaker's awl and
/ saw the steer month afterward with the
wound entirely healed.
Nobody saw the fight. and we could only
guess just what had occurred. The best
that we could make out was that when the
bear tackled the heard he was met by the
The bulls horns. being short and dull. and
setting sidevise from the head. they did
were not the best weapons for the business
10 be done, and. besides this. the bear had
probably tired him out by keeping him on
the move long time before they got to-
killed the bull and after that the sharp
horns of the steer did the business for the
bear. II must have been I'm giving the
thrust that disemboweled the bear that the
steer got the terrible claw stroke that tore
his thick hide like paper
II