Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-10-05
MICHIGAN BEAR HUNTING.
Four. Hand to Hand Battles-Nisht
Attacks on Sheep Herds.

throughout the territory lying along
the Saginaw bay and extending to the
Straits Of Macknaw further north
along the Lake Huron shore, Br'er
Bruin and his family have been thriv-
ing on choice lamb and sheep, pigs,
veal, calves, honey, etc., all summer
long.
1t is the approach Of fall, when a
spark starts a raging forest fire, that
has caused organized effort to be made
to rid the countryside Of the beasts.
In Arenac county alone over 400 sheep
were killed last fall by the bears
which had been driven out Of the
swamps and woods by the fierce for
est fires which swept so large por-
tion of the state.
Their fighting qualities were amply
demonstrated to the employees on
Bradley, Prescott & Co.'s sheep ranch,
overlooking Stiles Lake, during the
prevalence of the fires which swept all
that territory traversed by the Detroit
and Mackinac railroad in eastern
Michigan last autumn.
This ranch covers thousand Of acres
Of fine grazing lands, partly plains
dotted with lakes, streams and
swamps; but everywhere the low jack
pine interspersed with scrub oak is
in evidence. At the headquarters are
located the long sheep shed and a big
enclosure surrounded by an eight foot
wire fence, in which from 5000 to TO-
900 sheep are herded. Near by is the
residence Of the superintendent, Tom
French, where the men employed In
caring for the sheep also live.
One night early in October, French
was awakened by a noise resembling
distant thunder. His first thought
was that at last the clouds were about
to open and quench the flames whose
smoke had been coming nearer and
nearer day by day, but as he lay
awake waiting for the pleasing patter
Of the rain, the thunder changed Its
keynote and his feelings Of relief gave
way to wonder and then to anxiety.
Above the thunderous roll came to
his ears the bleating Of the lambs, and
as 1t came nearer he could distinguish
the pitiful cries of the sheep and then
the growing, hoarse cry Of bears as
they attacked the animals. Rousing
the other men and bidding them Sc
cure their rifles, which were always
loaded for emergencies, the foreman
led the party into the woods. The half
moon only partially lighted up the
openings among the trees, the semi
darkness adding to the danger Of their
encounter.
The slaughter was going on at a
rapid rate, for at least a dozen bears
were attacking the flock. The men
opened fire., but stopped when they
realized they were liable to kill many
Of their sheep. so closely were they
huddled together.
Drawing their long hunting knives,
the men plunged into the fray. They
were met half way by one bear much
larger than the rest, which had been
badly wounded by bullet. He made
a rush and with one swoop OF his paw
ripped the shirt from a mans back,
and sent the blood squirting from four
long, deep gashes. The foreman HIM
self was Immediately engaged In a
death struggle with another bear,
whose viselike embrace was only
broken after repeated knife thrusts f.
nally succeeded In reaching a vital
spot.
With the exception Of two men who
had fed, the others were by this time
surrounded by bears. Four
hand to hand encounters were going
on at once. Nearly every man had
his clothing ripped from him, while
their faces were covered with blood.
The tide of battle turned just in the
nick Of time, for almost on the instant
that the foreman and the first man
who had been attacked succeeded In
killing their bears one Of the other
men had his arm broken by savage
blow from a paw, while the fourth had
his hand badly lacerated and crushed
in the mouth Of the bear he was fight
ing.
BY joining forces the men soon af-
ter succeeded in despatching the re-
animals, but were not In the
least disappointed at finding that some
Of the bears had disappeared in the
darkness. By the time they had sue
ceeded in stanching their wounds and
had rested sufficiently to make the re-
turn trip to headquarters approaching
disclosed the full extent of
the murderous feast they had inter-
rupted.
Close at hand were five dead bears
and three dogs which would never
again answer their masters call, while
within a radius covering less than an
acre were over fifty sheep. most OF
them dead and others so badly wound
ed they had to be killed.-Chicaso Tri-