Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-06-14
STAGES Honesto Goodness Black Bear Hunt
BY George Kennedy

A bear hunt with coon dogs and
men with rifles is underway today
in the woods above Boyds in the
northwest part of Montgomery
County.
/ Although there is no open sea-
son for bear in Maryland. the
/ hunters are out TO kill; they con-
slider a bear a hazard in a dairy
county.
The bear was seen by a reliable
witness and his story was corrobo-
rated by convincing evidence.
! Herbert Bohn, a 35-year old
farmland. who works for James D.
King. owner of an 800-acre farm.
says he saw the bear in broad
daylight. just before noon Sunday.
Sights Bear in Pasture.
Mr.. Bohn was driving a truck
along a dirt road near German
town when a black quadruped in
Mr.. Kings pasture attracted his
attention. He first thought it was
a black Aberdeen Angus steer
from the herd Of neighbor.
The pasture on Mr.. Bohn's right
was enclosed by wire-woven fenc-
ing. topped by a strand of barbed
wire.
| On Mr.. Bohn's left was I'M
fenced woodland.
The animal tried frantically to
get through the woven wire fence
at several points. Then it stood
up and put its forepaws on the
top of the 4-foot fence. Mr.. Bohn
said he was sure 1t was a bear.
None has been reported in the
county in the memory of active
sportsmen.
Marks Animals Path.
The bear went over the fence
with some difficulty, ran across the
road and disappeared in the woods
on the left.
Mr.. Bohn placed a branch Of
tree where he disappeared to
mark the spot. Then he got back
into the truck and hurried to q
telephone.
Mr.. Bohn. who is of German
extraction, is a member of the
Lutheran Church in Germantown.
Character testimony is introduced
at this point because every one
thought he was fabricating and
said so. Mr.. Bohn is a temper
ance Lutheran. Yet several &C.
cused him of drinking.
He telephoned a man who knew
about bears-Harry Lloyd. we'll
known hunter. Mr.. Lloyd is a
leading members of the Pioneer
Coon Hunters of the county. He
has hunted bear in Pennsylvania
and Virginia and killed several.
Find Prints i'm Dust.
He tells the story like this:
BONN telephoned me Sunday
afternoon and said MIR. Harry.
I've seen a bear I told him he
must have been drinking and see
ing things but he stuck to his
story. I know him to be reliable.
I told him I would meet him at
the spot and have member OF
the county police with me.
1--WE went to the spot and there
in the thick dust of the dirt road
you know we haven't had rain
for more than two weeks-were
the footprints of bear. What's
more, these prints had four big
claw marks in front of them.
IT said to Bohn, Where did he
go over the fence?'
He said, Right there, Mr..
Harry and pointed to the fence.
I looked and one of the barbs on
top had a bit of black hair caught
in it."
Lonnie Neal, who lives near
Boyds, heard about it yesterday.
He called Bryce Selby, who runs
the store at Boyds and borrowed
his 80 caliber rifle.
A house Mr.. Neal is painting
| is getting no attention. Mr.. Neal
loaded three coon dogs in his
Model A Ford and started for the
working on the painting job with
he picked up Roy Nash. who was
working ont the painting job with
him. Mr.. Nash brought two coon
dogs. Together they worked the
10 miles of Ten Mile Greek with
out flushing the bear. Mr.. Neal
is sure the bear is around. He
Just moved out of that area. that's
all.
Says 1t Waded Potomac.
Mr.. Neal, who knows bears, Is
sure it came out of the mountains
of Virginia and waded across the
Potomac around the Point OF
Rocks Bridge.
Hes just travelin'." he said.
I'm the summer time he eats
clover, fish or what he comes
upon"
/ DR.. Cloyd Heck Marvin, pres
ident of George Washington Uni
versity, has had 16 sheep on his
farm near Boyds killed in the past
six weeks.
| Mr.. Neal thinks the bear killed
them. Rufus Gillian. who owns
500 acres of Whitelands. wooded
area in the neighborhood. says a
bear won't kill sheep.
They don't like mutton-just
pork" he says.
That's the bone of contention
right now. There's no doubt among
/ the hunters. that bear is in the
county.