Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1919-06-13

0rk artist, Is possibly
d u the best picture Of a griz.
Fly ever painted. Outdoor
men and blg-game hunters say it is
the ''real thing Well, it ought to be
the real thing, because 1t was painted
from life, so to speak.
There's a little Of what might be
called poetic license in the picture,
which improves 1t from the dramatic
viewpoint. Whea you read the plain,
straightforward story of the picture,
rs told by Director J. d. Higgins Of the
Colorado Museum Of Natural History
at Denver, you viii see how the artist
used this license. As to the details
Of the painting, they are the real thing
and no mistake. The grizzly was a
real grizzly; his mounted skin is now
In the museum. The dogs were real
dogs. The man in front of the bear
Is one of two noted Wyoming guilds
either Ned Frost or Fred Richards.
The trees are real trees and they and
the little open space are there yet.
The hunter in the left-hand upper cor
ner coming 10 the rescue is Higgins
himself. As for Artist Leigh, he was
rushing around the ring, taking photo
graphs and making pencil sketches and
absorbing "local color"
The grizzly Is worthy of the best eff
fort of the best artist He is the
@King of the Wilds" on the American
continent. EnOs Mills. whose exhaus-
tive work on the grizzly is to be pub
lished this spring, says this royal ami
mai excels all others in brains; he
does not except either the dog or the
elephant. Mr.. Mills belongs to the
treason" school of American natural
lists, as contrasted with the instinct"
school; the former credits animals
with what may be called a mental
process akin to reasoning, while the
batter believes that all their actions
are due to inherited instinct. Mr..
Mills should know something about
grizzlies; he captured as cubs and
brought up Johnny and Jennie, the
two enormous grizzlies in the Denver
zoo. And he studied the grizzly In his
native wilds. The grizzly will soon be
extinct in continental United States
except in the national parks. which
are sanctuaries for wild animal life.
"kino of the Wilds."
The grizzly is a queer animal, Not
withstanding his SIZE he seldom kills
big game or cattle sor sheep for food.
He eats nearly everything edible that
he finds. He win root up field 81
flowers for their roots. He win over
turn great powders to get at nest Of
ants. He will go TO the foot of slop-
ing snowbank in the summer and feast
on the grasSh0ppers that have become
chilled. He loves berries. And he dotes
on field mice and chipmunkS. But
occasionally a grizzly gets the cat
tle-killing habit and then he becomes
a terror to stockmen
The experts insist that the grizzly
is not feroclous by nature. Originally
he was absolute monarch of the wilds.
He took the path and kept it-except
for the skunk--and everything got out
Of his way. So he did not have
TO fight. After he had been trapped
and hunted and shot by the white
man he gave man wide berth. His
senses are exceedingly keen: it is be-
heved that he viii hear a hunter at
q distance of quarter Of mile and
win scent him at nearly mile. Eter-
naly viglant wary intelligent he
keeps out Of the way. When hunted
with dogs, his intelligence endurance
and speed over rough country usually
enable him to get away.