The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1909-11-05

each other beneath the clear wintry
, sky OF the Polar regions.
White fox is rare game, while the
| white bear is a formidable adversary,
who must be shot from a distance, and
who frequently attacks the hunters,
should he be only slightly wounded.
The most productive and the least
dangerous animal to hunt. although
great hardships have to be under
gone. is the hair-seal, or phoque. This
animal, when the thaw comes. con-
gregates on the dislOdged icebergs in
shoals of 10000 to 10000 at a time.
The young animals tthe most valu-
able) can oppose no resistance to their
slayers. In most cases the only weap-
on used is club; a vigorous blow on
the nose of a hair-seal is sufficient
to Kill it at once. The older animals,
however, who occasionally attack the
hunters, and weigh from IA to 16 cwt.,
have to be killed by a rife bullet.
The slaughtered animals are cut I'D
then and there, and the skins and the
blubber only are dragged to the
camps, and thence sold to the out
posts, who forward them to the Strut
ton islands.
Black bear are very numerous in
all parts of the country: they grow to
large size and carry finer pelts thar
in any other part of the American
continent. | saw skin which had
been killed in the previous spring that
was we'll over eight feet, very large
size for this species. Some Of these
bears have large white patch on the
chest, others have only a small white
pelage is a rich glossy black all over
On the Upper Stikine there is a local
variety which has at all times smoke
grey hair over the whole of the back
1t is only local variety and not a sub
Species since cubs may be seen with
the mother, who is often jet black all
over. The general habits of the black
bear are so we'll known that need
only say a few words as they apply
to the animal in Cassiar. In this dis
trict they leave their alternating holes
early in May, and if the weather is
bad return to them until the young
grass springs up on the hillsides Here
they feed greedily for month. and
are generally in poor condition, but
in fine fur. At this season the In
dams hunt them little and kill a few,
for whose hides they get about SIS
The hunters have no fear Of them,
even when accompanied by cubs, for
they all say that although the black
hear female will often charge up to
a man who gets between her and her
offspring, they never charge home,
hut only rush up showing their teeth
at the intruder. If man stands still
these bears invariably depart, There
have been instances in the district
when men have been mauled bg black !
hears. but these misfortunes are
chilly due to excessive carelessness or |
the fact that the bear has been fired |
at by the hunter when the animal !
was on the hillside above the the hunt |
or and came rolling down to his feet
In such a case some years ago, G
Thlinget on the lskoot could not re- |
treat, or lost his head at the last mo-
ment and was attacked and bitten to |
death. Such instances are, however,
extremely rare In former days black
hears we're so abundant at the june
tion Of the Iskoot and Stikine that one
Tha}tan Indian armed only with an old
killed nine in one day
any hunter should kill two
or three grizzlies and for Or five
black bears in a fortnight's spring
hunting on the Stikine.
AS the summer goes on black bears
become much shyer and are seldom
seen since they keep to the dense
forest: but in early September they
repair to the large rivers and small
streams and live largely on dead and
living salmon varied with berry diet.
They remain by the rivers until late
N October and then return to the
woods and precipitous hills before
out some secluded lair in
which to sleep for the winter.
JAMES H WFAVEp