246 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



determined, for his strong, sharp claws leave clearly marked scratches. They have a 

 habit of biting and scratching the trunks of living trees for no reason I know; and 

 it is not uncommon to find trees marked with the imprint of their teeth and claws. 



Bears do not like to come into even as much of an opening as a mountain sheep 

 range, and consequently they destroy but few domestic animals; but I have seen 

 the remains of several sheep killed by them. It seems to be the general opinion of 

 people who live in the Adirondacks that when a bear kills a sheep he eats all he can 

 and returns in a night or two for another good meal on the remains. I have known 

 of three instances where steel traps and strychnine have been cunningly prepared 

 for his expected return, but he did not come back in either case. 



The bear is hunted largely for sport. He is classed as " big game." and most 

 hunters like to be the hero of a bear story. In addition to this his hide makes a 

 fine rug, or it will fetch a good price from the fur dealer; his meat is eaten, but to 

 my taste it is too fat to be coveted : and there is still another incentive for killing in 

 the counties where bounties are paid. 



The bear is far more sagacious and alert than the deer, and if he had the same 

 protection he would rapidly increase. His destruction of domestic animals is 

 trifling, and if his trapping were prohibited and the bounty on his killing removed, 

 we might safely rely on the hunters' love of sport to prevent his becoming so 

 numerous and bold as to be a cause of any real annoyance to our farmers. If 

 instead of the bounty on his death the farmers were paid by the county for the 

 sheep he destroyed, a more equitable arrangement would be made at a small percent- 

 age of cost to the taxpayer. This fall (1902) Essex County paid two hundred and 

 eighty dollars for the killing of twenty-eight bears, and I very much doubt the kill- 

 ing of one sheep in this county by bears during the past year. 



As illustrating the endurance and tenacity of life of the black bear I will mention 

 an incident in the experience of one of the most successful hunters ever in the 

 Adirondacks. Some years ago Mr. George A. Stevens, of Lake Placid, found a 

 bear track in an early snow, near his home, and taking his friend, Mr. Frank B. 

 Stickney, after supplying themselves with their rifles and a knapsack of food, they 

 followed the track over the rough mountains and through the thick swamps until 

 dark overtook them, when they camped in the snow beside the track to renew the 

 chase at daylight. During the following day Mr. Stevens had two shots, one break- 

 ing the lower jaw, the other passing through the animal's kidneys. The next or 

 third day the snow melted so the track could be followed no longer, and after over 

 forty miles of hard travel the chase was reluctantly abandoned. The following 

 spring Mr. Charles Martin, of Saranac Lake, killed the bear swimming the lake, 



