The Jennings daily record., 1902-12-23
~AN BERNARDINO. Cal.-"The
~ most absurd tEing that East
y ern people believe they know
about grizzly bears" said Cap.


ern people believe they know
about grizzly bears said Cap.
tain Harvey Deddam. the most famous
veteran trappe: and hunter in Califor-
MIA nowadays. ''is that they are the
most ferocious beasts on foot in Amer
lea. The fact is that grizzly is about
the most peaceable of critters. l have
killed over 200 of them. and thousands
of smaller wild game. in my forty
years in the Sierras. Now. a grizzly
never picks quarrel. and never at
tacks anybody. except when 1t is
wounded, and l have even known
grizzly smarting with rifle ball to
get up and run away. However. when
wounded grizzly charges straight at
it's foe. it is generally a most terrify-
ing thing in furs and claws. Imagine,
if you can, the sensations which lone
hunter has when he is charged upon
by 4 half-ton beast that comes bound
ing straight at him. with swaying head
and open mouth. uttering deep roar
at every bound. Consider how the
hunter feels when he knows that a
ball must instantly be planted in
very vital spot in the bears anatomy
if he would save himself from being
torn into shreds by the infuriated
beast.
"There are very few grizzly bears in
Southern California. l have not seen
one in this region for a dozen years,
but, taken as whole. there are about
as many black and grizzly bears
among the Serras and Coast Range
| Mountains as there were twenty-five
| years ago. The beasts have retired
| further back among the canons and up
on the mountain sides 1t seems like
a foolish statement, but the clearing of
| timber from the mountains has helped
| the increase of the bruin tribe. When
! the timber was thick the bears were
| compelled to sllirmish more for food,
| and had to depend to Il great degree
| on roots and bark and on the rather
| scanty supplies which the pispens and
| sheepfolds of the scattered ranches
afforded them. The clearing of the
| woods has been followed by the ap-
pearance of all kinds of berry bushes,
| the fruit of which forms the favorite
| food of the bears. At the same time
| the cutting of the timber has not dis
turbed the character of the dense
| chaparrals. in the confines of which
the bears find safe places for breed
ing. The rocky lcdges, with their ra-
| vines and caverns, still remain al
most unvisited by man. and there the
| shaggy critters find winter lairs as Sc
| cure and comfortable as when the
forest grew above them.
SIZE OF THE GRIZZLY.
"Hov big are grizzly bears? The size
| varies according to the length Of the
| summer season and abundance of food
| in the locality in which they are found.
| believe the largest grizzlies are those
in California. where long Information is
not necessary. and where there is good
| bear food any month the year round
Now the Rocky Mountain grizzlies in
Montana and Idaho are generally 200
and 300 pounds lighter than their Cali
fornia cousins. :. The Montana and
Idaho grizzlies hibernate Mt least four
teen weeks, and when they come out in
the spring they have to rustic over
hundreds Of square miles for food amid
the melting SHOWS. SO they soon be-
come skin and bones. 1t is q heavy
setback every year for the beasts. espe-
cialiy the cubs. Now. the California
and Arizona grizzlies don't have any
such climatic conditions to fight. The
average weight of a full-grown Cali
fornia grizzly is 900 pounds. have
killed a few that went even to 1900
pounds. 1 have read stories of 1000
pound grizzlies, but there are no such
beasts. When you consider that an
ordinary milch COW weighs 700 pounds,
you see that 900 pounds of bear, when
that bear is maddened, roaring and
clawing, is mighty awing creature to
face, because Il grizzly. for all of its
clumsy appearance. is as quick as cat,
and is the most powerful of American
wild animals.
| ADVICE FOR HUNTERS.
"My advice to the hunter who wants
to add the pelt of great American
monarch Of wild beasts to his collection
of sportsmanlike trophies, is to seek his
game in the early summer months.
On the Pacific Coast grizzly's skin
Is the best In June. In Rocky Noun
tain regions it is best a month later.
In the autumn, even up to the time
they retire for the winter, their fur is
not prime, and, again, having become
rolling fat by gorging themselves on
berries, they move about very little,
and that mostly at night, SO that a
hunter might be in a good locality for
them for weeks and never see more Of
them than their tracks But in the
spring, the minute a bear leaves his
winter quarters he begins ceaseless
tramp for food. Then the wise hunter
will procure three of four old crippled
horses and kill them in some favorite