The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1902-12-04

~ most absurd thing that East
1 y ern people believe they know
about grizzly bears" said Cap
ain Harvey Deddam. the most famous
teteran trappe: and hunter In Califor-
lia nowadays, sis that they are the
most ferocious beasts on foot In Amer
ca. The fact is that a grizzly is about
| he most peaceable of critters ! have
| ;illed over 200 of them, and thousands
If smaller wild game, in my forty
| years IN the Sierras. Now, n grizzly
never picks a quarrel. and never at
! acks anybody. except when 1t is
| wounded, and 1 have even known a
grizzly smarting with a rife ball TO
| get mp and run away However, when
/ / wounded grizzly charges straight at
is foe. 1t is generally a most terrify-
ng thing in furs and claws. Imagine,
| you can. the sensations which n lone
lunter has when lie is charged upon
| ~ II half-ton beast that comes bound
| ng straight at him. with swaying head
md open mouth, utterlng a deep roar
At every bound. Consider how the
lunter feels when he knows that a
ball must instantly be planted in n
very vital spot in the bears anatomy
( he would save himself from being
torn into shreds by the infurlated
beast
There are very few grizzly bears in
Southern California. l have not seen
one in this region for dozen years,
] Ill IL 1.....
as many black and grizzly bears
among the Sierras and Coast Range
Mountains as there were twenty-five
years ago The beasts have retired
| further back among the cauons and up
III the mountain sides. 1t seems like
/ 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 skirmish more for food
and had to depend to Il great degree
/ On roots and bark and on the rather
;canty supplies which the pigpenS 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 favorlte
| food of the bears. At the same time
he cutting of the timber has not dis
! lurbed the character of the dense
| cllaparrals. in the confines of which
The bears find safe places for breed
ing. The rocky ledges, with their ra-
vines and caverns, still remain al
/ most unvlslted by man. and there the
shaggy critters find winter lalrs as Sc
| cure and comfortable as when the
forest grew above them.
SIZE OF THE GRIZZLY.
"How big are grizzly bearsI 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
moi 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 at 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 a heavy
setback every year for the beasts, espe-
claiiy the cubs. Now, the California
and Arizona grizzlies don't have any
such climatic conditions 10 fight. The
average weight of full-g Cali
fornia grizzly Is 800 pounds. | have
killed 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 100 pounds.
you see that 300 pounds of bear, when
that bear is maddened, roaring and
:lawing, is n mighty awing creature 10
face, because a grizzly. for all of It's
lumsy appearance, Is az quick as u cat,
and Is the most powerful of American
wild animals.