Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-02
ON THE BEARS TRAIL
OLD BRUIN DISPLAYED A FOND
NESS FOR MUTTON.
Tracking the Marauder to His Lair
Bears Not Desirable Acquisition
to a Game Preserve.
Written for The Star.

Written for The Star.
few weeks ago my nearest neighbor
drove up to the door to inquire If 1 had seen
any of his sheep. From a flock of thirty
six nine were missing. and he thought he
would ask me before hunting any further.
l saw him glance with shade of suspicion
toward my wolf pens, but my conscience
was clear All the wolves were locked up,
and had been for more than week. They
! had done good many wicked things from
first to last; they had even tried their teeth
on sheep, but this time they were guitless,
l knew. Perhaps, after all, the sheep had
only strayed off somewhere, and would
turn up all right by and. by
That afternoon my neighbor called again
to say that he had found six of the flock,
all dead ana all torn, doubtless by some
animal. Not wishing to yard his sheep SO
early, he obtained permission to turn them
into the Corbin game preserve, where they
would have an fmpenetrable fence, eight
and half feet high, TO protect them. Then
he removed all the carcasses but one, and
he and another man took their guns and
lay out in the frosty air until nearly mid
night to see II the sheep-kiler would
turn. He dfdn't-that is, as long as they
were there, but next day the sheep had been
dragged for several yards from the spot
where they had left it. and large part of
tn flesh had been eaten.
Plainly enough IL was not the work of a
dog, for dog hereabouts could drag a
heavy sheep so far, nor would single dog
eat so much of the flesh at a meal. l told
my neighbor to keep a bright lookout for
footprints but the ground was pretty hard
and dry and he failed to find any. Next
day | went over there to look myself, but
for some time my hunt was fruitless. But
L kept on walking round and, round the
place, in a wider circle each time until /
came to muddy ditch, which l followed
Discovered Footprints of a Bear.
Presently 1 found what 1 sought-the foot
print of large animal. In some respects
it resembled the imprint which would be
left by the bare foot of a man, but 1t was
blunter in front, and the marks of claws
were very plain. 1t was the footprint of a
goodszed bear. / followed the tracks up
the stream but only for a short distance
then the animal had evidently taken to
hard ground again. and | could only sur
mise that he had gone across the fields to
stretch of woodland about half a mile
away.
For some days watch was kept in
the sheep pasture, but no bear turned
up and the matter was dismissed. In
the meantime the twenty-seven sheep
turned into the preserve wandered where
they chose and whenever, in my own
wanderings, l came upon them I counted
them, for the satisfaction my neighbor
would get in hearing that they were all
safe. But one evening l was returning
through valley, and, coming upon the
little flock, l was surprised to find that
there We're only twenty five.
Next day man who had business in
the park reported that. while driving
over a lonely mountain road in the heart
of the reservation, he had WITH treat
difficulty avoided q runaway. His horse.
accustomed to the sight and odor of buff
faloes, deer, wild boar and all the other
creatures which make their home in the
park, and usually afraid of nothing, had
suddenly begun to snort and rear with
fright at some danger unseen to the driv-
er-probably the odor of some strange
animal-and it had required all the mans
skill and strength to prevent the terrified
beast from taking the buggy down the
mountain side at full gallop.
Incidents Connected.
At once l connected this incident with
the fact that two sheep were missing.
and guessed that Bruin had simply followed
his food supply, by climbing one of the tall
fence posts, and letting himself down on the
inside. An inquiry at a lumber camp
brought out the fact that on two occasions
when men We're coming to camp at dusk
strange. dark-cOlCTed animal much larger
than boar. had been seen diving into the
underbrush, through which it went with
much commotion. l knew then that my
suspicion was correct. and l told my neigh
Dor who immediately took his sheep home
for the winter.
the ground, and that evening, wandering
along a hill side in Corbin Park, l came
upon the tracks of the bear again l fol-
lowed them and they led ne down into the
valley, where presently / came upon the
remains of partly-eatcn sheep. 1t must
have been killed some days before, but the
bear had revisited the scene, and apparent
ly had made another good meal from the
carcass.
The trail led from this spot down the
valley for a quarter of a mile and then up
the mountain through a belt of spruces. At
one point the bear had approached q large
tree and climbed it; the ground below
was covered with loose bark, which had
been scraped off. and the scratches made
by the animals claws were visible for
twenty feet up. From the tree the trail
again continued up the hill, soon turning
south for a short distance to a steep bank
where the bear had scraped numerous holes
in the snow, possibly in search OF beech
nuts, for beech trees We're growing close
by. After this he had resumed his upward
journey, and / followed the trail along
brook for the best part of half a mile. I'M
til | could see, at some distance in front
of me- dense bit of spruce woodland
Aroused Bruin From His Lair.
It was now quite dusk and as 1 was
unarmed l decided not to enter but to
walk around this group of trees and under
growth and see if the trail came out on the
other SIDE. If it did not then, of course. |
knew where the bear must be. But, although