The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-08-18

- OS~ W 80 ~eSS~~N6
sidsred by the convention.
AFTER BEARS WITH a CAMERA.
How to Act with Three Big Black Fellows
within Ten Feet OF Y0u.
Their are exciting oments In fishing
and in baseball and in bridge whist, but IL
q full grown man with red blood in his
veins and with we'll poised nerves wishes
to experience the real thing in adventure,
says w. H. Wright in Country Life in Amer
'cd, let him try photographing big game at
close ra~nge-animals two or three times as
big as himself and reputed to be murderous.
Here is an incident in point.
It was shutdown In the Rockies and the
birds were making the woods echo with the
volume Of their songs. ! stood quiet me
wstchful on the lee side Of the trail waiting
for my friends the grizzlies. Day after
day I had set my trap for them and night
after night they had fooled me.
MY trap consisted Of a camera, a battery,
a fashlight apparatus and a fine wire
stretched across a narrow place in the
trail. They never passed il. The fine wire,
completely hidden among the leaves, always
stopped them by its scent. Black bears
will paw at things they don't understand,
but the grizzly. while no less curious. sniffs
cautiously at the unknown thing and then
passes by on the other side.
This night 1 was determined to discover
whether il was the wire or the man tracks
that stopped them. After I had adjusted
my camera I turned and walked back down
clearing.
H. --aA-A EzAs.I . III --
that IL the bears cared about my tracks they
would know, In their inexplicable wisdom.
which way I had gone and would proceed
to investigate.
At last they came along, three huge,
numbering fellows, their bulky forms show
ing monstrous IN the gathering dusk. They
shifted at my trail when they caught II, but
they did not stop until they reached the
hidden wire. That brought them to q
standstin.
First one shifted and then another until
It occurred to them that possibly my tracks
had something 10 do with this strange thing.
30 back thoy came along the trail, not
angry, but simply bent on finding out.
In my interest l had left my tree. n
when they reached the little clearing they
found me In full view. | was entirely un-
armed, as usual, having not even a sheath
knife, but. twenty-five years experience
with bears has taught me a few things about
them, and under the circumstances l a
no more fear than II they had been so many
healthy bull terriers.
I stood perfectly still there in the open,
trying. hard not to wink. but feeling all the
time hat 1 was swaying like q reed in the
wind. They had not yet caught the direct
man scent, but they saw me. All three
stood bolt upright nsn on 1o their hlr hind ; i feet and
more easily than you can fool q grizzly
bear and you may imagine that played
body steady.
Unable to make out what I was, they
dropped on all tours and gradually ap-
preached. A large fallen tree lay between
watched It breathlessly.
Presently a snout and two bright eyes
appeared n~oiselessly above the log and
then the whole head and shoulders, as the
leader accommodated. Then q second head
appeared beside him, but the leader was
not yet satisfied. and placing his paw over
the other bears snout, gently pushed him
back. How I wanted TO laugh
At some signal, invisible 70 me, the other
two bears arose and all three scrambled
distance away and yet I heard not so much
as the scratch Of a claw on the bark
Nearer and nearer they came until the
loader was not over ten feet away. Then,
catching the man scent and Losing courage,
oeity. they turned and shambled of.
heaved a sigh, not of relief, but Of re-
greet that IL was nearly dark and l had no
camera in my hands. An, what a picture
thai would have madel But pictures of
were. half the fun would be gone.
The black bear Is a most interesting ami
ma to study and TO Int with the camera.
But unless you know their habits you
might search tho mountains over and never
zee one. The only way il to wait for them
to come to you.
They are omnivorous animals, with a
great fondpess for certain roots and grasses
and for berries. The black pea is very
intelligent and interesting and n Of the
most humorous animals in the world. He
has given me many a hearty laugh. These
bears will never attack unless first mo-
Tested. II disturbed they usually run
away and they certainly a run. For n
distance they can beat a horse in the
open. and in the woods nothing can catch
them.
Black bears have a very funny code Of
etiquette in their dealings with each o.Ner.
II one or more OF them are feeding in a
huckleberry, patch and a arrives
fhe latter does not notice them at first,
they look at him.
Very carefully he ignores them until he
has been IN the patch Tor some little time,
he looks up in apparent surprise and
Expresses recognition Tor the nrst time, aB
much as TO say. why. my dear sir. ] beg
your pardon. L did not see you when I ar
rived, certainly would not have intruded
l known you were here
The black bears are afraid OF the grizzlies.
The latter come out to feed at dusk. when
the former sneak quietly of. have seen
some very amusing instances OF this. The
only satisfactory way to photograph griz-
zlies, therefore. is by f7ashlight.
have known the grizzly bear pretty inti-
mately FOR twenty-five years and l consider
tho most intelligent OF our wild animals.
| have known him to circumvent his human
time and again by sheer clever
ness and brains. / am positive that he
reasons. John Burroughs to the contrary
lot Notwithstanding.
I hunted grizzlies with my camera from
to Wyoming. but partly because
bruin was too smart for me and partly be-
,ause OF detective apparatus I had little to
for il.
When I found that the wire across the trail
lid not work I tried o thread. but I found
him too sharp and wary TO 60 against the
thread or wire. He oouldn't pos |
eco II. but he could smsl II. Finally I !
rot n picture. not because the bear ran I,
INTO tho thread. but becauss he became q |
title more inquisitivs than usual and set
~ Az AAAk ~wtSk LII. Il