Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1908-10-01

tramp through the woods and along
the sides of the canyons. There were
plenty of berry bushes growing in
clusters; and all around these there
were fresh tracks of bear. But the
grizzly IS also Il flesh-eater, and has
great liking for carrion. On visiting
the place where Merrifield had killed
the black bear, we found that the griz-
klies had been there before us, and had
utterly devoured the carcass, with can
nibal relish. Hardly q scrap was left,
and we turned our steps toward where
lay the bull elk l had killed. 1t was
quite late in the afternoon when we
reached the place. A grizzly had evil
IDENTIFY been at the carcass during the
preceding night, for his great foot
prints were In the ground all around
1t, and the carcass itself was gnawed
and torn, and partially covered with
earth and ieaves-for the grizzly has
a curious habit of burying all of his
prey that he does not at the moment
need. A great many ravens had been
feeding on the body, and they wheeled
about over the tree tops above us, ut
tering their barking croaks.
The forest w2s composed mainly of
what are called idge- pole pines, which
grow close together, and do not branch
out until the stems are thirty or forty
feet from the ground. Beneath these
trees we walked over q carpet of pine
needles, upon which our moccasined
feet made no sound. The woods
seemed vast and lonely, and their ST.
lence was broken now and then by the
strange noises always TO be heard In
the great forests. and which seem to
mark the sad and everlasting unrest
of the wilderness. We climbed up
along the trunk of dead tree which
had toppled over until its upper
branches struck in the limb crotch of
another, that thus supported it at an
angle halfway in its fall. When
above the ground far enough to pre-
vent the bears smelling us, we sat still
to wait for his approach; until, in the
gathering gloom, we could no longer
see the sights of our rifles, and could
but dimly make out the carcass of the
great elk.
1t was useless to wait longer; and
we clambered down and stole out to
the edge of The woods The forest here
covered one side of q steep, almost
canyon-like ravine, whose other side
was bare except of rock and sage-brush.
Once out from under the trees there
was still plenty of light, although the
sun had set, and we crossed over some
fifty yards to the opposite hillside, and
crouched down under q bush to see if
perchanCe some animal might not also
leave the cover To our right the IA
vine sloped downward toward the val
ley of the Bighorn River, and far on
it's other side we could catch a glimpse
of the great main chain of the Rockies,
their snow peaks glinting crimson in
the light of the set sun. Again we
waited quietly in the growing dusk
until the pine trees in our front blend
ed into one dark, frowning mass. We
saw nothing; but the wild creatures of
the forest had begun to stir abroad.
The owls hooted dismally from the
tops Of the tall trees, and two or three
times Il harsh wailing cry, probably the
voice of some lynx or wolverine, arose
as we were rising to leave, we heard
the sound of the breaking of a dead
stick, from the spot where we knew
the carcass lay. 1t was q sharp, sud-
den noise, perfectly distinct from the
natural creaking and swapping of the
branches; just such sound as would
be made by the tread of some heavy
creature. "Old Ephraim" had come
back to the carcass. A minute after
ward, listening with strained ears, we
heard him brush by some dry twigs.
1t was entirely too dark to go in after
him; but we made up our minds that
on the morrow he should be ours.
Early next morning we were over at
the elk carcass, and, as we expected,
found that the bear had eaten his fill
at it during the night. His tracks
showed him to be an immense fellow,
and were so fresh that we doubted IL
he had left long before we arrived: and |
we made up our minds to follow him |
up and try TO find his lair. The bears |
that lived on these mountains had evi |
IDENTIFY been little disturbed; indeed the |
Indians and most of the white hunters |
are rather chary of meddling with |
"Old Ephraim," rs the mountain men |
style the grizzly, unless they get him
at disadvantages; for the sport is
fraught with some danger and but
small profit The bears thus seemed to
have very little fear of harm, and we
thought it likely that the bed of the
one who had fed on the elk would not
be far away.
My companion was a skilful tracker
and we took up the trail at once For
some distance it led over the soft,
yielding carpet Of moss and pine nee
dies, and the footprints were quite
easily made out, although we could
follow them but slowly; for we had,