Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-06-06

IF you go back out Of this country an
| write about bears, don't make fool o
| yo'rself like most Of the wrtin fellows, Jim
| my" he said. as they sat back to smoke
| their pipes after supper Two years ago
| ! took a natcherlst out for a month, an he
was so tcked he said ed send me bunch
| o books about bears an wild things He
| did I read EN-. I laughed at flrst, an
then | got mad an, made FIRE OF EN-.
| Bears Is curious There's q mighty lot OF
| interestin' things 10 say about EN- without
| making a fool o. yo'self. There sure is!'
| Langdon nodded
"One has to hunt and kill and hunt and
/ kill for years before he discovers the real
| pleasure in big game stalking" he said slow
| ly looking into the fire. And when he
| comes down to that real pleasure, the part
! Of II that absorbs him heart and soul, he
| finds that after all the big thrill isn't In KILL
| ing, but in letting live, | want this grizzly,
! and I'm going to have him. I won't leave
! the mountains until kin him. But. on the
| other hand. we could have killed two other
| bears today. and didn't take a shot. I'm
| learning the game Bruce-Tm beginning TO
| taste the real pleasure Of hunting And
| when one hunts In the right way one learns
| facts. You needn't worry, I'm going to put
| only facts in what I write
! Suddenly he turned and looked at Bruce
| What were some Of the fool things you
| read In those books?" he asked
! Bruce blew out cloud OF smoke refiec-
| lively.
What made me maddest,' he said. was
| what those writer fellows said about bears
| havn' marks Good Lord, accordin' to
| what they said all n bear has to do is
| stretch 'imself up, put mark on tree,
| and that country Is his'n until a bigger
| bear comes along an licks I'm In one book
| remember where a grizzly rolled a log up
! under a tree he could stand on II an
| put his mark above another grzzly's mark
! Think of that!
"No bear makes mark that means any
! thing. I've seen grizzlies bite hunks out o.
| trees an scratch 'em just as a cat might.
| an in the summer when they get itchy an
| begin TO lose their hair they stand up an
| rub against trees, They rub because they
| itch an not because they're leavin' their
| cards for other bears. Caribou an moose
| an deer do the same thing to get the velvet
| of their horns.
Them same writer's think every grizzly
| has his own range an they don't-not by
| a long shot they don't I've seen eight full
| grown grizzlies feedn on the same slide
| You remember two years ago, we shot four
| grizzlies in a little valley that wasn't mile
| long Now an then there's a boss among
| grizzlies, like this fellow we're after; but
| even he ain't got his range alone I'll bet
| there's twenty other bears in these two
! valleys An that natcherlist I had two
| years ago couldn't tell a grizzly's track
| from a black bears track. and so 'elp me II
he knew what a cinnamon was :"
He took his pipe from his mouth and
spat truculently into the fire, and Langdon
| knew that other things were coming His
richest hours were those when the usually
silent Bruce fell into these moods
"A cinnamon" =" he growled. Think Of
| that Jimmy-he thought there were such
a thing as a cinnamon bear. An when I
| told him there wasn't, an that the CHINA
! mon bear you read about is a black or
grizzly of a cinnamon color he laughed at
| mean there I was born an brung up
| among bears! His eyes fair popped when
told him about the color o. bears, an he
thought I was feedin him rope. ! figgered
| afterward mebby that was why he sent me
the books. He wanted to show me he was
| right.
Jimmy there amt anything on earth
| that's got more colors than bear I've
seen black bears as white as snow. an I've
seen grizzlies almost as black as a black
| bear.
"Ive seen cinnamon black bears and I've
| seen cinnamon grizzlies an I've seen
! browns an colds an almost -yellows of both
! kinds. They're a7 different in color as
they are in their nachurs an way of eatn'
II hgger most natcherlsts go out an get
| acquainted with one grizzly. an then they
write up all grizzlies accordin' to that one
That ain't fair to the grizzlies, darned II it
| is There wasn't one OF them books that
didn't say the grizzly wasn't the fercest
| man-eatngest cuss alive. He ain't-unless
| you corner i'm. He's as curious as a kid
| an he's good-natured If you don't bother
| him. Most Of 'em are vegetarians. but some
| of 'em amt. I've seen grizzlies pull down
! goat an sheep an caribou, an I've seen
| other grizzlies feed on the same slides with
them animals anNnever make a move to-
ward them. They're curious, Jimmy
| There's lots you can say about 'em without
maxim fool o. yourself!'
Bruce beat the ash out of his pipe as an
| emphasis to his final remark. As he re-
| loaded with fresh tobacco Langdon said
You can make up your mind this big
| fellow we are after Is n game-kiler, Bruce"
| You can't tell" replied Bruce. size
! don't always tell. / knew a grizzly once that
| wasn't much bigger'n a dog, an he was a
game-killer. Hundreds Of animals are win
| ter-klled in these mountlns every year, an
| when spring comes the bears eat the car
| casses; but old flesh don't make game
| killers Sometimes it's born in a grizzly TO
! he a killer, an sometimes he becomes a
| killer by chance. II he kills once he'll kill
again.
"Once was on the side OF a mount'in an
| saw a goat walk straight into the face of
a grizzly. The bear wasn't going to make n
move. but the goat was scared II ran
plump into the old fellow, and he killed IT,
lie acted mighty surprised for ten minutes
aftcrward, an he shifted an nosed around
the warm carcass for half an hour before
he tore II open. That was his first taste
of what you might call live game. | didn't
kill him, an I'm sure from that day on he
was big game hunter
81 should think size would have some-
thing TO do with it," argued Langdon. 1T
seems to me that bear which eats flesh
would be bigger and stronger than II he
was a vegetarian"
That's one o. the curious things you
want to write about" replied 3ruce. with
one Of his odd chuckes. why is IT bear
gets so fat he can hardly walk along in
September when he don't feed on much else
but berries an ants an grubs? Would
you get fat on wild currants?
An why does he grow so fast during
the four or five months he's denned up an
dead to the world without a mouthful TO
eat or drink?
Why is it that for a month an some
times two months the mother gives her
cubs milk while she's still what you might
call asleep? Her nap amt more'n two
thirds over when the cubs are born.
And why amt them cubs bgger'n they
are? That natcherlist laughed until |
thought he'd split when told him a grizzly
bear cub wasn't much biggern house-cat
kitten when born,
He was one Of the few fools who aren't
willing to learn-and yet you cannot blame
him altogether" said Langdon. -Four or