The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-04-20
WISE BEAR CARRIED TRAP

Long they looked, and then the deer
took one step forward, with a stamp
to startle whatever was there. Anoth-
er step, pounding, and like clOckwork
( came those pOundings ever nearer
Kept perfectly still until that cold brown
nose was thrust into my face and
reached up and stroked it
One of the best of DR. Longs stories
from his latest book, published by CHM
& Co, is here given in his own words,
"Once, with an old hunter who had
learned much of his wonderful animal
lore from the Indians, 1 set a deadfaIl
FOR big, black bear that had taken
TO raiding the sheepfolds. At first the
cunning old fellow would not go near
the trap: then, when the sheen were
guarded by day and locked I'D by night
and trail of honey was led through
the woods to the deadfan, he began ia
investigate the new source of supply.
Now, in comparison with wolves OF
foxes, most bears are easily caught in
deadfall, but our particular bear was
not so easy. First he licked up all the
honey as far as the trap and went away
dlscreetly. The next night, with the
taste of honey in his mouth, he broke
into the pen from the side, sprung the
trap harmlessly and ate up all the
oalt. The crash of the falling logs
would have scared another bear into
a panic and made him suspicious of
all such traps for life: but Mooween
thought he understood such things.
Two nights later he came back and
repeated his performance. only. as we
had driven in an extra row of stakes. he.
did not bother to break in, but climbed
up the rear side of the stump and again
sprung the trap and ate up everything
in sight. WhereupOn the old hunter
vowed he would catch that particular
bear if it took all summer.
we took away the faII-log and set
steel trap, just inside the pen, cover
ing it carefully with twigs and moss
and leaves, just like the forest floor.
Then the old hunter broke forty or fiji
ty twigs and stuck them in the ground.
On the top of each twig he stuck a
piece of rank meat and smeared everv-
thing with honey.
when Mooween came again he was
so busy licking up the scattered SCRAPS
that he forgot, apparently, ali about
the danger. AS he stepped over the
bed-log he put his paw squarely into
the iron jaws of the trap.
I'VE took up the trail next morning
Attached to the trap by an iron chain
was as eight-fOot log. Suddenly, how
ever, the trail of the clog vanished
II came upon a bears fresh tracks i'm
the mud by a little brook There vas
no trace of the clog, and my first
thought was that another bear WAS
near. l whistled for the hunter. who
came quickly
That's him; he's walking on his
hind legs, he said briefly
And that was true. The bear would
drag the clog as long as it would fol-
low easily, but when il caught in a
root or when the pain in his pinched
paw became too great he would GO
back, pick up the clog and go forward
again, walking on his hind legs and car
rying the drag in his arms.
so we found him at last. thinning
bravely forward. He was walking nm
right, like a huge monkey. the tran
in one paw, the heavy clog under his
free arm, and the chain clankinp
against his breast as he walked as IL
he were handcuffed.
There is small glory for man in the
incident. My own sympath were en-
tirely with the bear. and our tranner,s
cunning seemed both a mean and de-
testable thing as I tried. unsuccess-
fully, to free the splendid brute. and
offered the old hunter twice the bountv
If he could devise any way of remov-
ing the trap without at the same time
being Drained or scalped by a bloD
from MoOWeen's free paw"