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CHAPTER X

THE BEAR (URSUS)

This is one of the oldest animals in history, and it has survived the attacks of man far more successfully than the more noble beast the lion. This survival may probably result from the secluded habits of the bear, which cannot be classed among the destroyers, such as the carnivora, although it is dangerous when hunted, and not unfrequently it attacks man without any provocation.

The nature of most animals may be judged by the formation of their teeth; those of the bear declare its omnivorous propensities—

In the upper jaw 12 molars, 2 canine, 6 incisors.

In the lower jaw 14 molars, 2 canine, 6 incisors.

There are so many varieties of the bear that it is impossible exactly to define the food of the species. We see the polar bear (Ursus maritimus), which, living upon seals and fish, differs from all others; the grizzly bear (Ursus ferox) of Western America, which will eat flesh when it can obtain it, but is a feeder upon roots and berries. Nearly all bears are inclined to vegetable food and insects, accepting flesh when they find the freshly killed body of an animal, but not seeking live creatures to kill and eat. The sloth bear of India is an exception to this rule, as it refuses flesh, and lives simply upon fruits, berries, leaves of certain trees, roots, and insects of all kinds, the favourite bonne bouche being the nest of white ants (Termites), for which it will dig a large hole in the hardest soil to a depth of 2 or 3 feet. The molars of bears have a close resemblance to those of a human being, exhibiting a grinding surface for the mastication of all manner of substances. The nose is used as a snout, for turning over stones which lie upon the surface, in search of insects, slugs, worms, and other creatures, as nothing comes amiss to the appetite of a bear.

The claws of the fore paws are three or four inches in length, and are useful implements for digging. It is astonishing to see the result upon soil that would require a pick-axe to excavate a hole. Upon the hard sides of such pits as those made in search of white ants, the claw-marks are deeply imprinted, showing the labour that has been expended for a most trifling prize, as the nest when found would only yield a few mouthfuls. I have never appreciated the name of "sloth bear" given to Ursus labiatus, as it is a creature that works hard for its food throughout the year, and being an inhabitant of the tropics, it never hybernates. This species is very active, and although it refuses flesh, it is one of the most mischievous of its kind, as it will frequently attack man without the slightest reason, but from sheer pugnacity. A full-grown male weighs from 280 to 300 lbs. The skin is exceedingly thick and heavy. The hair is long and coarse, with a bunch upon its back of at least 7 inches in length, but there is a total absence of fur, therefore the hide has no commercial value. The chest is marked by a peculiar pattern in whitish brown, resembling a horse-shoe, which is the mark for aim when the animal rears upon its hind legs to attack. There are five claws upon the fore feet, and the same number upon the hinder paws. Although these are not retractile, neither are they so curved or sharp as those of the genus Felis; they inflict terrible wounds upon a human being, and when the head of a man has been in a bear's grip it has generally been completely scalped. I have heard of more than one instance where the scalp has been torn from the back of the neck and pulled over the eyes, as though it had been a wig.

The Ursus labiatus seldom produces more than two or three at a birth, and the young cub is extremely ugly, but immensely powerful in limbs and claws. I have seen a very young animal which held on to the inside of its basket when inverted, and although shaken with great force, nothing would dislodge its tenacious clutch; this specimen was about six weeks old.

Although many varieties of bears are tree-climbers, there are others which are contented with the ground, and which could not ascend a tree even should they be tempted by its fruit. The grizzly bear (Ursus ferox) belongs to this class, and his enormous weight would at any time necessitate especial care when experimenting upon the strength of boughs. I do not believe that any person has actually weighed a grizzly, but an approximate idea may be obtained through a comparison with the polar bear (Ursus maritimus), which is somewhat equal in size, probably superior. When I was in California, experienced informants assured me that no true grizzly bear was to be found east of the Pacific slope, and that Lord Coke was the only Britisher who had ever killed a real grizzly in California. There are numerous bears of three if not four varieties in the Rocky Mountains, and these are frequently termed grizzlies, as a misnomer; but the true grizzly is far superior in size, although similar in habits, and his weight varies from 1200 to 1400 lbs.

Mr. Lamont, in his interesting work Yachting in the Arctic Seas, gives the most accurate account of all Arctic animals that he killed, and having the advantage of his own yacht, he was able to weigh the various beasts, and thus afford the most valuable information in detail. This is his account of a polar bear (Ursus maritimus) which he himself killed :-

"He was so large and heavy that we had to fix the ice-anchor, and drag him up with block and tackle, as if he had been a walrus. This was an enormous old male bear, and measured upwards of 8 feet in length, almost as much in circumference, and 4 1/2 feet at the shoulder; his fore paws were 34 inches in circumference, and had very long, sharp, and powerful nails; his hair was beautifully thick, long, and white, and hung several inches over his feet. He was in very high condition, and produced nearly 400 lbs. of fat; his skin weighed upwards of 100 lbs., and the entire carcase of the animal cannot have been less than 1600 lbs."

This weight is equivalent to a large-sized English cart-horse. I have seen one of the skins procured by Mr. Lamont, and I can readily appreciate his account of the weight. I have also seen a skin of a grizzly bear killed at Alaska by Sir Thomas Hesketh; this was cured by Mr. Rowland Ward, who showed it to me at his establishment, 160 Piccadilly, and it was very little inferior to the skin of the polar bear. I quite believe the accounts I have received in California are correct, and that the grizzly may sometimes exceed 1400 lbs. in weight. There is a considerable difference in size between the male and female, the former being superior. Like all other animals, the mother is particularly attached to her young, and when in company with them she is more than ordinarily ferocious, as she appears to suspect every stranger of some hostile intentions towards her offspring.

The increase of population in many countries has resulted in the destruction of all animals that were considered dangerous to man; thus the wolf and the bear have both disappeared from Great Britain, and they have become scarce in France.

Thirty-five years ago, I was in a wild portion of the Pyrenees, in the hope of finding bears at the first snows of winter, when by extreme bad luck a fall took place so suddenly and severe that a pass was blocked, which prevented my arrival at a narrow valley, between the lofty mountains named Tram-Saig. I had been assured that the bears would hybernate at the commencement of winter, and that they could only be found at the season when the first snow-fall would expose their tracks.

On the following day I managed to get through the pass, and to my intense disgust, upon arrival, I found that I was a day too late, as the Maire, who was a great chasseur, had killed two bears, a mother and half-grown young one, on the preceding day, thus verifying the information I had received.

I saw the freshly killed skins pegged out to dry, and a few days later I ate a portion of the paws in an excellent stew when dining with the Prefect of Bagneres-de-Bigorre, to whom they were forwarded as an esteemed present.

The larger bear-skin gave me the impression that the original owner must have been the size of a heifer twelve or fifteen months old. This was the ordinary brown bear of Europe, which still exists in Transylvania, Hungary, Italy, and especially in Turkey. The same bear inhabits Asia Minor, and both these varieties hybernate at the commencement of winter. In the extensive forests and mountains about Sabanja, beyond the Gulf of Ismid, I have seen the wild fruit trees severely injured by the brown bears, which ascend in search of cherries, plums, apples, walnuts, and sweet chestnuts. The heavy animal knows full well that the extremity of the boughs will not support its weight, it therefore stands erect upon a strong limb and tears down the smaller fruit-laden branches within its reach. Although bears are numerous throughout the forests, there is only one season when they can be successfully hunted; this is in late autumn, when the fruits are closing their maturity, and the apples and nuts are falling to the ground. The bears then descend from the mountain heights, and may be found late in the evening or before sunrise in the neighbourhood of such food.

Asia Minor and Syria possess two distinct varieties of bears, although the countries are closely connected, and these animals are not inhabitants of the same district. The Syrian bear is smaller than the ordinary brown bear, and would hardly exceed 300 lbs. in weight. The fur is a mixed and disagreeable colour, a dusky gray of somewhat rusty appearance, but blanched in portions as though by age. This species is to be found at the present day upon Mount Horeb, and the natives assured me that, when the grapes are ripe, it is necessary to protect them by watchers armed with guns, to scare the bears during night.

Wild animals which hybernate have a peculiar instinct for selecting hiding-places, which can seldom be discovered; in these they lie, free from all intrusion.

The fruits of late autumn fatten the bear to a maximum condition, and when the harvest is over, and the ground is covered with a dense sheet of snow, it retires to some well-known cave, high among the mountains, in such undisturbed seclusion that it is seldom visited by the foot of man. Within a cave, nestled in ferns or withered leaves and grass, the fatted bruin curls itself to sleep throughout the winter months, and the warmth necessary to its existence is supplied by its own fat, which, being rich in carbon, supports vitality at the expense of exhaustion of supply.

If the fat bear could see itself previous to hybernation in November, and again be introduced to its own photograph upon awakening from its sleep in March, it would be prepared to swear against its own identity. It arises from its winter's nap in wretched condition, having lived entirely upon capital instead of income. Young shoots, and leaves of spring, wild tubers which it scratches from the ground, detected by its keen sense of smell, together with snails, beetles, worms, and everything that creeps upon the earth, now form the bill of fare, until the summer brings forth the welcome fruits that reproduce the condition which the bear had lost through hybernation.

It is impossible to unravel many of the mysteries of Nature, and the cause which prompts the instinct of a winter's sleep will always remain doubtful. I should myself attribute hybernation to the necessity of repose at a period when food was impossible to procure. The body can exist for an incredible length of time, provided that it is capable of undisturbed rest, which appears in a certain degree to take the place of extraneous nutriment. It is well known that every exertion of the muscles is a loss of power, the force of the body being represented by heat. To lift a weight or to move a limb requires a certain expenditure of heat, which means force; this loss of heat and power is recuperated by food; thus in the absence of provisions for the necessary supply, there would be no loss of heat if there is no exertion. Sleep is the resource, as the body is not only at rest, but the brain is also tranquil; there is accordingly a minimum of exhaustion. Human beings have been known to live without food of any kind (excepting water) for a period of forty days, and have then resumed their ordinary course, simply confining themselves to moderate diet for the first few days after their long abstinence. In a time of starvation in Africa I have frequently composed myself to sleep in the absence of my daily food, and I have awoke without any disagreeable craving for a meal. Continued sleep will to a certain extent render the body independent of other nutriment, and I should imagine that the custom of hybernation has been induced by necessity. At a season when the fruits of the earth are exhausted, the ground frozen to a degree that would render scratching for roots impossible, an animal that was dependent upon such productions for its existence must either starve or sleep. The sleep is in itself a first stage of the process of starvation. The creature that can sleep through an existence of four months without food, and lose the whole of its fat during that interval of inaction, has already lost all that supported life during the period of total abstinence—the fat, or carbon. If it were to begin another turn of sleep in its exhausted state, it would be unable to support its existence.

I therefore regard hybernation as the result of the highest physical condition, the animal being thoroughly fat; the food ceases, and the beast, knowing this fact, lays itself down to sleep, and exists upon its own fat, which gradually disappears during the interval of starvation. The bear wakes up in spring with a ragged ill-conditioned skin, instead of the glossy fur with which it nestled into rest; and it finds its coat a few sizes too large, until an industrious search for food shall have restored its figure to its original rotund proportions.

The proof of this necessity for repose during a period of enforced abstinence will be observed in the independence of tropical bears, which do not hybernate, for the best of all reasons, "that there is no winter," therefore they can procure their usual food throughout every season without difficulty or interruption.

The animals of America are all exaggerated specimens of the species, and the grizzly bear, if standing by the side of the ordinary brown bear of Northern Europe, would hardly exhibit any striking difference except in superior size and a slight roughness of colour. I have heard the question frequently discussed when in the Big Horn range of the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming; some of the professional hunters term all bears grizzlies, while others deny the existence of the true grizzly except upon the Pacific slope.

There is no doubt that all the American bears will eat flesh whenever they can obtain it, although they do not pursue animals as objects for food. The usual custom in bear-shooting is to kill a black-tail deer and to leave the body untouched. If this course is pursued throughout the day, three or four deer may have been shot in various localities, and these will lie as baits for the bears.

At daybreak on the following morning the hunter visits his baits, and he will probably find that the bears have been extremely busy during the night in scratching a hole somewhat like a shallow grave or trench, in which they have rolled the carcase; they have then covered it with earth and grass, and in many cases the bears may be discovered either in the act of working, or having completed their labour, they may be lying down asleep half gorged with flesh, and resting upon their own handiwork. In this position it is not difficult to obtain a shot.

When I was in the Big Horn range in 1881 several shooting parties had preceded me on the two previous seasons, and the bears had been worried to such an extent that they were extremely cautious and wary. There was a small party of professional skin hunters who were camped within a mile of my position, consisting of two partners, Big Bill and Bob Stewart. The latter went by the name of Little Bob, in contrast to his enormous companion. Bob was of Scotch extraction; he was about 5 feet 5 inches in height, very slight, and as active as a cat. In his knowledge of every living creature upon the mountains he was perfect; from the smallest insect to the largest beast he was an infallible authority. Bob was a trapper and hunter; he followed the different branches of these pursuits according to the seasons; at one time he would be trapping beavers and red foxes, at another he would be shooting deer for the value of their hides. This cruel and wasteful practice I shall speak of in another portion of this work.

His only weapon was a single-barrelled Sharp's .450 rifle, and he possessed the most lovely mare, beautifully trained for shooting, and not exceeding 14 1/2 hands in height. Little Bob, on his little mare, would have formed a picture. On one occasion I had returned to camp a little after 5.30 P.M., and as the sun sank low, the deep shadows of the hills darkened our side of the narrow glen, and by 6 o'clock we were reduced to a dim twilight. Presently, in this uninhabited region, a figure halted within 15 paces of our tent, which was evidently Bob Stewart, mounted upon some peculiar animal of enormous bulk, but with a very lovely high-bred-looking head. This was Bob's pretty mare, loaded, and most carefully packed with the trophies of his day's sport, as a solitary hunter, quite alone and unaided since 8 A.M. His pony carried the skins of three bears and four black-tail deer, which he had shot, skinned, and packed upon his sturdy little companion.

The bears consisted of a mother and two half-grown young ones of the choice variety known as "silver-tipped." He had come across the family by chance while riding through the forest, and having shot the mother through the shoulder, she fell struggling between her cubs; these pugnacious brutes immediately commenced fighting, and a couple of shots from the rapid breechloading Sharp rifle settled their ill-timed quarrel.

Bob was the most dexterous skinner I ever saw; he would take off a skin from a deer or bear as naturally as most persons would take off their clothes; and the fact of a man, unassisted, flaying seven animals, and arranging them neatly upon the Mexican saddle, would have been a tolerable amount of labour without the difficulty of first finding and then successfully shooting them.

The hide of the largest bear would weigh fully 50 lbs., those of the smaller 25 lbs. each = 100 lbs. The four black-tail deer would weigh fully 50 lbs. Therefore the mare was carrying 150 lbs. of hides, in addition to Bob Stewart, who weighed about 9 stone, making a total of about 276 lbs., irrespective of his rifle and ammunition.

It was a strange country; the elevation of our camp was about 10,000 feet above the sea-level, although we were in a deep and narrow glen, close to a very small stream of beautifully clear water. Upon either side the valley, the hills rose about 1400 feet; at that season (September) the summits were in some places capped with snow. The sides of the hills, sloping towards the glen, were either covered with forests of spruce firs, or broken into patches of prairie grass and sage bush, the latter about as high as the strongest heather, and equally tough and tiresome.

The so-called camp was upon an extremely limited scale; a little sleeping tent only 7 feet by 7, and 5 feet 8 inches in the highest portion; this had no walls, but was simply an incline from the ridge-pole to the ground; it was a single cloth, without lining of any kind, and bitterly cold at night. This was rough work for a lady, especially as our people had no idea of making things comfortable, or of volunteering any service. If ordered to come, they came; to go, they went; to do this or that, they did it; but there was no attempt upon their part to do more than was absolutely required of them. Shooting in the Big Horn range is generally conducted upon this uncomfortable plan. It is most difficult to obtain either men or animals; but, although useless fellows for any assistance in camp, they were excellent for looking after the horses and mules, all of which require strict attention.

We had only four men, all told—my hunter Jem Bourne, the cook Henry (a German), Texas Bill, who was a splendid young fellow, and Gaylord.

Although I have travelled for very many years through some of the roughest portions of the world, I have always had a considerable following, and I confess to disliking so small a party. Including my wife, we were only six persons, and it was impossible to consume the flesh of the animals killed. I cannot shoot to waste; therefore upon many occasions I declined to take the shots, and thus lost numerous opportunities of collecting splendid heads; this destroyed much of the pleasure which I had anticipated. There were no Indians, as they are confined to their reservations; therefore it was almost criminal to destroy wantonly a number of splendid beasts, which would rot upon the ground and be absolutely wasted. Several parties of Englishmen had not been so merciful; therefore the Americans had no scruples, and commenced an onslaught, general and indiscriminate, shooting all animals, without distinction of age or sex, merely for the value of the skins; the carcases of magnificent fat deer were left to putrefy, or to become the food of the over-satiated bears, which themselves fell victims in their turn.

This was the slaughter in which Bob Stewart and Big Bill were engaged in partnership. They never shot in company, but each started upon his independent course at 8 or 9 o'clock A.M., after having employed themselves since daylight in pegging out the skins to dry, that had been shot on the previous day. The most valuable of the deer-skins was the black-tail, which realised, at a price per lb., 11s. This hide is used for making a very superior quality of glove, much prized in California.

I strolled over to the camp of the two partners one morning, as I was on the way to shoot, and I found them engaged in arranging their vast masses of skins, all of which were neatly folded up, perfectly dry, without any other preparation than exposure to the keen dry air of this high altitude.

Upon my inquiry of Big Bill respecting his operations on the previous day, he replied that he "guessed he had been occupied in running away from the biggest grizzly bear that ever was cubbed."

Big Bill was a Swede by parentage, born in the States. By trade he was a carpenter, but he had of late years taken to skin-hunting. He was an enormous fellow, about 6 feet 3 or 4, with huge shoulders and long muscular arms and hands. There was no harm in Bill; he was a first-rate shot with his .450 Sharp rifle, which appeared to be the weapon in general favour; but he had met with an adventure during the previous year which made him rather suspicious of strangers.

Somewhere, not far from his present camp, a mounted stranger dropped in late one evening. The man was riding a good horse, but was quite alone; so also was Big Bill. The camp of the skin-hunter was then the same in appearance as when I saw him and his partner Bob Stewart—simplicity itself; a long spruce pole was lashed at either end to two spruce firs; against this, leaning at an angle of about 45 degrees, were sixty or seventy straight poles laid close together, and upon these were arranged spruce boughs to form a thatch. This lean-to provided a tolerable shelter within the forest, when the wind was sufficiently considerate to blow at the back against the thatch, instead of direct towards the open face. The ground in the acute angle was strewed with branches of spruce, and a large fire was kept burning during night, exactly in front, the whole arrangement exhibiting the principle of a Dutch oven.

In such a camp, Big Bill received the stranger with the hospitality of the wilderness, and they laid themselves down to rest in the close companionship of newly-made friends.

The morning broke, and as Big Bill rubbed his eyes with mute astonishment, he could not see his friend. He rose from his sleeping-place, and went outside in the cold morning air; he could not see his horses. A horrible suspicion seized upon him; he searched the immediate neighbourhood; the animals had vanished, both horses and mules were gone, together with the unknown stranger, to whom he had given food and shelter for the night.

Fortunately there was a particular horse which Big Bill for special reasons kept separate from the rest; this animal was picqueted by itself among the spruce firs at some little distance, and had been unobserved by the departed stranger. To saddle the horse, and to follow in pursuit at the highest speed upon the trail of the horse-stealer, was the work of only a few minutes. The track was plain enough in the morning dew, where ten or a dozen mules and horses had brushed through the low prairie grass. Big Bill went at a gallop, and he knew that he must quickly overtake them; his only doubt lay in the suspicion that there might be confederates, and that a strong party might have joined together to secure the prize, instead of the solitary stranger being in charge. However, at all hazards he pushed on at best speed in chase; at the same time, the horse-stealer, thoroughly experienced in his profession, was driving his ill-gotten herd before him at a gentle trot, thoroughly convinced that it would be impossible to be overtaken, as the owner had been left (as he supposed) without a horse.

At length, after a pursuit of some hours, upon attaining the summit of a broad eminence, Big Bill's eyes were gladdened by the sight of some distant objects moving upon the horizon, and he at once redoubled his speed.

The stranger, innocent of suspicion, trotted leisurely forward, whistling, and driving his newly acquired animals with professional composure, without condescending to look back, as he felt certain of security, having left his hospitable friend of the preceding night with nothing better than his own legs for locomotion.

In the meantime, Big Bill was coming up at a gallop; he was boiling with indignation at the treacherous conduct of his uninvited guest; and being fully alive to the manners and customs of the West, he placed his Sharp rifle upon full-cock to be in readiness for an explanation.

A few minutes sufficed to shorten the distance to 100 yards, when the astonished horse-stealer was surprised by the sound of hoofs upon the stony soil, and, turning round, he was almost immediately confronted with the threatening figure of Big Bill. The dialogue which ensued has not been historically described; there was none of the bombast that generally preceded the combats of Grecian heroes; but it appears that the horse-stealer's right hand instinctively grasped the handle of his revolver, not unseen by the vigilant eyes of Big Bill, who with praiseworthy decision sent a bullet through his adversary's chest from the already prepared Sharp .450; leaving the lifeless body where it fell, he not only recovered all his stolen animals, but also possessed himself of the horse and saddle which only recently belonged to the prairie horse-stealer without a name.

The gigantic Swede returned to his solitary camp, well satisfied with his morning's work, as he had gained instead of losing, and he had saved the State of Wyoming the expense and trouble of hanging a man for a crime which is supposed to deserve no mercy, that of "horse-stealing."

Of course this instance of determination and extreme vigilance gained for Big Bill the admiration of the extremely limited number of people who would be called "the public" in the outlying portions of Wyoming; but although contented with himself, Big Bill was always suspicious of a solitary stranger, as he had an undefined idea that some relative of the defunct horse-dealer might draw a trigger upon him unawares. It was this redoubtable Big Bill who now confided to me that he had been running away from some monster grizzly bear only on the preceding day. He pointed out the spot, as nearly as possible, from where we stood during his narrative. "There," he said, "do you see that low rocky cliff on the tip top of the hill just above us? That was the place just beneath, on that little terrace-like projection with a few spruce firs upon it. There's a steep but not a difficult way down by the side of that cliff, and when young Edmund and I got down upon that terrace, there were a lot of big rocks lying about, and all of a sudden one of 'em stood up on end within 10 yards of me, and sat up regularly smiling at me, with the most innocent and amiable expression of countenance I ever saw. That was the biggest grizzly bear I ever came across; he was as big as the biggest bull I ever saw in the ranche, and there he was, sitting up on end like a dog, and almost laughing. There was no laugh in me, I can tell you; I just lost no time, but turned round, and hooked it; and I don't think I ever ran so fast in all my life."

"But why did you not shoot him?" I exclaimed with astonishment. "Shoot him? Oh yes, that's very likely, when he wasn't farther than 10 yards off, and I should have had such a poor start, and no place to run to! No, I knew better than that, with a single-barrel Sharp .450. If I had had your double-barrel .577, with a big solid bullet, and 6 drams of powder, I shouldn't have run away; but I go hunting for skins with my little Sharp, and I don't want a grizzly to go hunting for my skin; not if I know it. I've left him for you, and d'ye see, if you go up there this morning, there's some snow about, and you'll likely come across his tracks. If you do, you'll be astonished, I can tell you."

Ten minutes after this discourse, I was on my way up the mountain side in the hope of meeting this extraordinary bear.