The Opelousas courier., 1903-02-21
YAM BYRNARDINo, Cal.-"The

~ most absurd thing that East
y ern people believe they know
about grizzly bears" said Cap
ain Harvey Deddam, the most famous
veteran trapper and hunter in Califor-
lia nowadays, sis that they are the
most ferocious beasts on foot in Amer
lea. The fact is that a grizzly is about
The most peaceable of critters. l have
killed over 200 of them, and thousands
years in the Sierras. Now, a grizzly
never picks a quarrel, and lever at
tacks anybody, except when it is
wounded, and I have even known a
grizzly smarting with a rifle ball to
get up and I'll away. However, when
4 wounded grizzly charges straight at
It's foe, it is generally a most terribly
ing thing in furs and claws. Imagine,
If you can, the sensations which a lone
hunter has when he is charged upon
by a half-ton beast that comes bound
ing straight at him, with sWaying head
and open mouth, uttering a deep roar
at every bound. Consider how the
hunter feels when he knows that q
ball must instantly be planted in a
very vital spot in the bears anatomy
If he would save himself from being
torn into shreds by the Infatuated
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 a whole, there are about
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 canons and up
Oh 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 skirmish, more for food,
and had to depend to. a great degree
N roots and bark and on the rather
scanty 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 fayorite
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 lodges. with their ra-
vines and cayerns, still remain al
most unvisited by man, and there the
shaggy critters find winter lairs as Sc
cur and comfortable as when the
forest grew above them.
SIZE OF THE GRIZZLY.
"How 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 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-
cially 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. 1 have
killed q few that went even to 1900
pounds. I have read stories Of 1000
pound grizzlies, but there are no such
beasts. When you consider that an
ordinary mich COW weighs 100 pounds,
you see that 800 pounds Of bear, when
that bear is maddened, roaring and
clawing, is a mighty awning creature to
face, because a grizzly, for all of its
clumsy appearance, is as quick as a 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 a great American
monarch Of wild beasts to his collection
of sportsmanlike trophies, is to seek his
game in the early summer months.
~ 4I- TD1,SGo =Cao-4, nof11J-S, nI,s,