The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1923-05-17
BEARS KILL SHEEP and
HIDE ITS FELT
soSs
Roland Benner Tells Big Woods Edi-
tor of Interesting Experiences
With Bears

Roland Benner of Pleasant Ridge,
who has lately been liberated from
a lengthy sojourn in Somerset Hos
pjtal, where he has been suffering
from infections following the loss OF
parts of two fingers of his right hand,
dropped into the Big Woods depart
ment the other day and spent pleas
ant half hour discussing more or less
the ACCESSIBILITY of protecting the
bears of Maine woods. Mr.. Benner
is of the opinion that bears should
not be protected as he believes that
they not only kill sheep but deer as
we'll. He bases this latter theory on
an experience of his own while In the
Fish orchard at Lexington one day
looking for deer. He saw deer COM
ing on the run, with its tongue out.
painting for breath closely pursued by
bear. The deer was, evidently head
ed for Stafford Pond, but Mr.. Benner
proved to be its benefactor by shoot
ing the bear. When asked If he shot
the deer also, Mr. Bonner showed his
humane sympathy by letting good
game go unframed, as he said he did
not kill it thinking the deer had had
unpleasant experiences enough for one
day. Evidently serveral old farms
in Lexington on which orchards are
about all there are left to suggest
that they were once homestead lands,
are great fields for bears. Among
those which Mr.. Benner mentioned
were the Abbott and Hutch orchards
as we'll as the Fish orchard. These
places ARE about four miles from hui
man habitations. Mr.. tBenner is a
| firm believer that bears are a great
enemy to sheepmen and related an
| interesting story of how bears would
skin sheep, fold its pelt and hide
it. This was told him by a farmer
who had had this experience with
bears in his flock of sheep. Five
or six bears made the Fish orchard
their stamping grounds, season or
so ago and Mr.. Benner cited as an
example of their foxy cunning, that
he hunted them without success. He
calls them an unusually shy animal
and believes they would attack no one
unlass they had cubs and the latter
were molested. Joe. the Indian who
cares for the Bigelow railroad station
and is we'll versed in gamecraft, main
! tains according to our informant that
If a person takes cub in his arms
and holds it securely, the mother bear
will do no harm. However, this
might not be, wise thing to try out,
| for it might be little difficult to
make the mother bear understand the
motive of taking her offspring up
Evidently Mr. Benner is quite stud
ent of bear nature as he says con-
trary to the reports that bears can
not run down hill, he has seen them
| do 1t, while they are as nimble as
a squirrel in jumping from tree.
! Mr.. Benner has had more or less
experience with bobcats altho he new
err has yet succeeded In killing any
of them. He was followed in the
! night once by a bob-cat, but because
of the darkness was unable to shoot
the animal, its wary nature caus-
ing it to stop whenever he stopped
to look or listen for its approach
One bob-cat can kill a deer alone he
says. He believes there was pah-
| Their in his section of the county last
year, and altho he did not see it, he
saw tracks that indicated such a
beast might be prowling about. For
the most part Mr.. Benner believes
that few animals will attack hui
! man being under ordinary circum-
! stances. ~ ~apI