The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1899-01-06
Smart Pine Creek Bears
Jerry Chamberlain Eas Proof Of
Their Intelligence.

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IERRN CHAMBERLAIN. of Cedar
IL Eun. Pa. says he has hunted black
Dear. W. the Pine creek region for -
Years. and his observation proves thai
Bruir advances in sagacity and dcviltry
a. tae people progress in cupidity and
modern methods. Chamberlain is firm
IN tle belief hat black bears hold on
,eai.ors. for one day in the latter part
OF the past summer. while on a bee tree
hunt, he saw what he thinks was a bear
pow-wow. Ills attention was attracted
BY queer chopping or chatterine noise,
inierspersed with a series OF low, quick
sqeals. sometimes several of these to-
ge,her. He investigated and found
that the queer sounds were made by :
Colony or gathering Of black bears in
The shade of a ledge of rocks. There
We're nine bears. and all full grown.
Chamberlain had an excellent chance
for observation from the top Of the
cliffs which %overhung The meeting
place. lie says the bears were lying
about in avery lazy fashion, except that
one. which seemed TO be the boss. sa.
o. his "hunkers" in the enter Of the
group. This bear was very demonstra-
tive IN his movements, and il vas he
who was making most OF the chattering
rtisc. An occasional grunt or squeal
.um the others seemed to indicate APP
Troyll or disapproval. rs the case might
b Chamberlain watched the queer
rraering for a half hour or ore. l.
broke up suddenly after every bear in
liz crowd had shamb.ed up backward
against n straight hemlock tree and
marked his height with a scratch on the
bark Then. when each had taken his
measure. they went grunting away in
ciTerent directions.
Rui something that ~happ.nded to
Chamberlain about two weeks ago is
construed by him as positive proof that
The hears nowadays are much sharper
than those Of 20 or 30 years ago. Cham
b%erlain, during the season. succeeded
in finding four fine bee trees. He al
way waits until early frosts before he
cuts his bee trees. for he believes In Civ
ing the bees all the time possible to fill
comb. Then. too. il the honey is taken
after cold weather the stuff is not 50
soii nor the bees SO hard 10 smother.
~ the early part Of November he and a
heiper named Kuntz carried tubs and
buckets TO a place nearest 10 all the
trees 20 gather the crop Of honey. The
hfsi tree chopped yielded a splendid lot
q The finest honey that Chamberlain
ever saw. II had evidently been gath
tred from buckwheat and white clover.
fortunately. too. when the tree fell. il
s'te wiped" another tree and landed
OF The ground quite gently. disturbing
ne comb little. The men got over q
'uninl Of honey out OF the tree. They
carried IL to what they considered 4
safe place, under n shelving rock. while
'het went a mile or two further on 10
oni another bee tree.
'~niortunately for Chamberlain and
a. iubful Of honey. il was the next DAY
before he got back to where be had hid
eeN the tub. a sudden storm having
compelled him and his partner 10 beat
retreat for home. Next morning they
,"enl 70 the ledge OF rocks where they
"tN1th tbe honey, but much to
a"'Fchagrin they found that somebody
ling the night had removed tub and
j, ihey were not long in finding ou;
.~ple'es' however, for as they stood
Using the thief who had robbed them
''tF hard-earned sweets Chamber
practical ear caught from wind
across the ravine n sound tha,
et MN eNclaim: Bears! the black
s,r. 'n'y We got our honey" And
''ough they had-and what a
,su'aN.ng through the thicket tha,
ra.s. 'ne underground in The little
III n.y. we men came upon 4 scmi-clear.
'enea'h a clump Of oak trees. part