The L'Anse sentinel., 1922-12-29
Bruin Most Interesting Thing II
Yellowstone Park, Says Big
Game Hunter.
BOSS OF SUMMER TOURISTS
A ceyser 10 Only ceyser, but .
Bear Is q Humorist, Says Ed
mund HeIler-Bio Game 10
Increasing Rapidly.


Heller, the big game hunter. who has
just returned from several months In
the park studying the wild life OF
larger animals for the Roosevelt wild
life experiment station connected with
the school Of forestry at Syracuse
university.
a. Mr.. Heller likes bears. He has spent
hours watching and photographing
them during the past summer. and
thinks they are by far the most In
teresting things in the park, more so
than the geysers and hot springs. A
geyser is only geyser after you have
seen it few times, says Mr.. Heller,
but bear is a source of infinite humor
to those who study him.
Big game in the park is incieas-
ing, with the exception of mountain
sheep and antelopes, he says. Much
Of his report will be devoted to
methods of preventing the graceful
sheep and antelope from disappearing
altogether from the Yellowstone. 1t
Is not their natural habitat, for In
winter. unless restricted, they woulvl
move south into the Dakotas, he says.
AS 1t is they stay In the park, many
| freezing to death. On the other hand.
moose are increasing rapidly, and elk
are so numerous that they can be
heard bugling all day long as they
charge across the bottoms. They num-
ber at least 10000. Mr.. Heller said
he frequently saw large herds with
bulls driving their cows and trumpet
ing defiance at the world. Mule deer
are also increasing fast, and beavers
f, fiji the streams, he says.
Increase in Tourists.
The greatest change In the Yellow
stone in the last few years, however,
is in the greatly increased number
Of tourists, according to Mr.. Heller
The automobile and the war are both
largely responsible, although, oddly
| enough, most of the tourists are
westerners, TO whom wild country Is
no novelty. The park Is filed with
camps at which automobile parties
may stop for the night under the
supervision OF a ranger TO see tha'
they do not fire the woods.
The bears are constant source OF
interest to these tourists. If cars are
left moment fat, black bear may
soon be found paving the seat and up
holstery to pieces In search of food
The bears are fairly tame, because
they are never molested, but they are
Wild enough to claw the tourist wht
tries to drive them off with nothing
more than temper and stick.
'The rangers really have to protec
the bears from tourists" says Mr.
Heller, because the animals focl
around the hotels for food" Occa
sionally a tourist gets tangled up will
one so badly that the bear has 10 b.
shot. Now the bears have regula
feeding places where the waste frUn
the hotels is dumped. The touris
watches from behind screen will
q ranger looking on with rife Z
protect both the tourist and the bears
"They come Looping In at regula
hours, often mother bear bringln
her cubs. She will put the cubs up
tree and tell them to stay there.
they come down while she is feeding
she runs back and cuffs them into tn
tree again, just like naughty children
Bears often 20 back after mea
climb tree in full view Of peopl
and 60 to sleep.
Bears Are Funny.
"They are funny things. They wal
like man when they stand up. Whe
they are In tree they often sit lik
a man, with legs dangling on each sid
Of branch and clutching the trun
In front of them. They often brea
into hotels. Big logs will battle then
but any ordinary house with clapboard
or square corners which they cal
get hold of they rip open with a fe'
pulls from their powerful paws.
"One bear followed me around Il
days, trotting at my heels like dol
We called him the kodak bear II
was as tame as kitten. They al
dangerous for persons who don't kno
how to treat them, however. There al
nbout 30 grizzlies In the park nov
although they are not seen so ofte
; as the others and, of course, are MOI
dangerous. You should see the blac
and cinnamon bears run when q grlzzl
comes up TO the feeding place benin
the hotel. They scatter In every dire
tion and take to the trees, for
grlzzly, although he eau run like
horse, can't climb trees.
"The deer and elk also come up
the houses to be fed, and sometlmt
deer can be fed from the hand. Or
old elk Is called Ash Can Pete becau'
when he comes looking for food !
goes around tipping over all the na
cana lie had been there for year
Everybody knows him."
Il The bufynloes. which seenied Ia dan
or u determination few years az
ere now increasing % rapidly thi
there are two large herds VI the
e q ne park, sA5s Mr. HELM.